Ones and Zeroes
by Blue342
Summary: Just as the malfunctioning datafile labeled Hakuno Kishinami was about to be deleted in the core of the Moon Cell, a blue butterfly flaps its wings and, worlds away, a thoroughly confused Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon suddenly activates.
1. Prologue, part 1

Author's notes: Greeting for all readers, this is Blue342, also known as Shape of Fire in certain forums. But this isn't about my bad choice of usernames around the internet, this is about this fic here or more like my (I like to think triumphant) return to writing fanfiction, not just reading it.

This actually happened two months ago.

Anyway I had planned on putting this story here too for a while now, I just didn't find the incentive. Until this morning! I went and read Shirou Fujimura's brilliant "FateReign Rebirth" and laughed my ass off at the similarities in the beginning. No, I'm not accusing anyone of plagiarism, especially since I firmly believe his/hers is written better than mine. Not to mention how I share his/her belief that this is a generally good way to begin any Extra crossover. But, since he/she said in his/her Author's notes that he/she would like to see more Extra crossover fics (among others), I decided to upload this now.

I would be lying through my teeth if I said me writing this had nothing to do with me reading Wrathie Winsre's "A Flower Amongst Devils" and The Crimson Lord's "A Demon Among Devils". I can only hope I can reach their level someday.

But now, let's get to the fic!

End notes.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

 **Ones and Zeroes**

 **Prologue**

 **The Holy Grail, core of the Moon Cell Automaton**

 **3** **rd** **Person view**

Hakuno Kishinami felt herself start to disintegrate. Actually it was more that she could no longer feel the pressure of the virtual sea she was submerged in, as her body – the irregular data file containing everything about the person "Hakuno Kishinami" – was being erased. As her left leg deadened, Hakuno closed her eyes and waited for the end. She could feel her Servant's presence around her, and she could imagine the beautiful woman comfortingly embracing her, once again –probably for the last time– lending Hakuno her strength. Hakuno was really glad about that. She really was the best Servant, even defeating the "Savior" that had answered Twice Pieceman's summons. But more important than that, she was one of the only two living beings she considered friends. Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, once the emperor of Rome, now her Servant Saber. Ardent lover of all things beautiful and under all her pride and arrogance, there was insecure girl who had to take her own life since she couldn't understand the people of her country. It had taken time and several life threatening battles, but eventually she had gathered her courage and disclosed her identity to Hakuno and then gone even further by declaring her love to the amnesiac Master. Poor Hakuno had been utterly confused about how to take that and still was, in fact. She had looked so scared, so pained when she had said that, but had Hakuno accepted her feelings just because of that it would have been a great insult, even Hakuno with her meagre weeks of existence understood that. So she had let it be, until her feelings were clear, but the War didn't give her time and now she was dying and she still couldn't answer. She clearly had feelings for her Servant, after everything she had done for her, how couldn't she? But she still couldn't say if those feelings were love, or friendship or what. She just didn't know.

Luckily, she wasn't the only person with emotional problems. The homunculus Rani VIII, had had the same problems though hers originated from her artificial nature, had become a very good friend for Hakuno during these eight weeks. At first it had been Hakuno trying to get Rani to understand that she was a person, not a doll for her creator to command, and when Hakuno's existence as cyber-ghost was revealed, it was Rani who got her to accept her artificial existence. Hakuno would really miss her and their long discussions, but hopefully Rani would get some closure from the real Hakuno, once she is cured of her disease.

 _I hope she doesn't take my death too badly_ ,Hakuno's thoughts darkened as the feel in her right leg started to disappear, no doubt if she were to open her eyes and look at her legs, they would be covered by the same veiny, purple lined darkness that had eaten every other people she knew, all of them dying so she could live.

Shinji and Rider, Dan and Archer, Alice and Caster, Gatou, Julius and Assassin, Rin and Lancer, Leo and Saber. Then finally Twice.

Of course there were other people too. There was that cute couple by the Arena doors, who were forced to fight each other, only for the man to surrender so his love could continue fighting. But she couldn't live with that outcome. Hakuno still wasn't sure if the girl had taken her own life or if she just ran into a stronger Master. Then there was that friendly classmate, who had understood that they might have to fight to the death one day, but still stayed friendly. They had promised give it their all, if they were to be paired in the future. And that one girl in the first floor, who had first laughed at Hakuno's helplessness, but then had slowly grown to respect her ability, going so far as to declare her the most dangerous Master in the Holy Grail War.

Just as Leo had done, but he had admitted that only when they stood face to face in the elevator to the Coliseum.

But ultimately, it was down to those fourteen people who had the biggest impact on Hakuno. Those fourteen people died in front of her. By her hand, guiding the weapon called Servant Saber. Shinji had gone screaming, not realizing he was fighting for his life until he lost it, while Rider had accepted her fate. Dan went to death happily, after offering some heartfelt advice as the older, more experienced person. Archer took his loss good-naturedly, as he was content with his life. Alice and Caster were heartbreaking in their deaths, the Master finally letting go of the life she never really got to live and the Servant lamenting what she lost with her Master. Gatou had pleaded his mad goddess to help her and after his disappearance, she had just walked away utterly disregarding the deletion that was supposed to be absolute. Julius was tenacious to the end, but Hakuno was sure he found peace at the end. Assassin didn't deserve his fate, but she was sure he would have accepted it regardless.

Then there was Rin. The smart and capable freedom fighter, who had taken pity on the amnesiac Master and explained to her just what it was she was involved in. And that was just their first meeting! She had helped her so much, from taunting info out of Shinji to getting her malachite for the Vorpal sword. She was also the first person to figure out her –Hakuno's – true nature as a cyber-ghost in the virtual reality of .PH. But the Holy Grail War was cruel game, and they had to face each other in the semifinals. Not that Hakuno had realized it at first, since Rin had done everything in her power to keep their status secret and just like a friend would. Chatting about things important and not, eating lunch with each other, that kind of things. And when Hakuno had finally realized it, she couldn't help but do the same. She'd rather remember her friend than turn things awkward as they no doubt would have become, if Rin knew Hakuno had found out the truth. And even when they stood face to face in the elevator, Hakuno had opted to chat with Rin about mundane things, like how she adored children or would have liked to go to school like a normal girl her age. And have friends who looked at her as equals, unlike her comrades who, while friendly enough, had put her on a pedestal for her skills. Hakuno had fought hard to hold her tears back during their last talk, after Saber's sword had cut Lancer down, the Irishman taking his defeat in a stride. Rin had been proud to the end, standing with her head held high and congratulating Hakuno for becoming so strong, before asking for one last favor before her avatar was erased.

Hakuno had held her last promise to her dear friend and stopped –killed– Leonard Harway only a week later. The young Harway heir had been a very confusing person to face. Hakuno had found herself thinking of the boy as a friend, but it had turned out to be one-sided, as Leo thought such things were beneath a king like himself. But he had still been very courteous and friendly to her for the whole War, and had eventually declared Hakuno as his ultimate opponent. As Leo was groomed to his role from a young age, he had always been the best at everything, standing head and shoulders above his peers in anything and he had the drive, the confidence to grasp whatever he wanted with nary a thought spared to the possibility of loss. While Hakuno herself was amnesiac and unsure of her own worth –after all he was only fighting for her own survival while other were putting their lives on the line for their dreams, how could she even compare? –, constantly needing the help of other people in the face of enemies that got more and more out of her league every week. But she had grown with every battle, remembering Dan's advice about finding meaning in killing her enemies and honoring them with her victories.

Leo had, of course, put it the best:

" _Doesn't it seem like fate that you and I were paired for the final battle? The unchanging me, versus the steadily improving you. Like the Moon is trying to resolve the timeless clash of innate talent versus self-improvement."_ Hakuno clearly remembered how Leo's expression was slowly filled with battle lust, the need to fight her. An honest to god opponent near his own level, someone who could push him to the limits but not defeat him, never defeat him.

But he was wrong, as Hakuno turned out to be the stronger Master of the two. Leo had still lost gracefully, thanking his Servant for everything, before thanking Hakuno for teaching him the only thing he lacked –defeat. And that was when Hakuno had to agree with all her heart that Leonard Bistario Harway would have made a terrifying king one day, and that she would have kneeled before him if not for the fact that she loathed his ambition of having all the world stagnate under Harway family's control.

Finally, there was Twice. Hakuno didn't know him, thanks to her amnesia, but apparently he was famous. Leo, Rin and Rani all knew him by name. Hakuno got the impression that he was a very smart man, but his final moments had somehow unhinged him. If Leo wanted to bring forth world peace by uniting it under the Harway family and then force everything to stay the same forever, then Twice wanted the exact opposite. He wanted to force mankind to evolve, to constantly force it to become better in the iron grip of an eternal war that would eventually destroy humanity as a whole. Better to die than stagnate was how he thought and he wanted to enforce this on the rest of humanity with the power of the Holy Grail. Hakuno had naturally disagreed and so the final battle for the Holy Grail had started. In the end, Hakuno and Saber were victorious and Twice, along with his extraordinary servant, were deleted though it wasn't clear if it was Moon Cell's doing or if Twice delete himself because of his philosophy of survival of the fittest.

That was Hakuno's barely eight weeks of life. Eight Servants and Masters killed. Three friends made.

And now, as she sunk to the virtual sea, it all would end.

But she still did not want to die.

She wanted to see the arts as Saber had seen.

She wanted to know the world like Rani did.

She wanted to pursue her dreams like Rin did.

She wanted to

She wanted to

She wanted to

She did not want to disappear now; she had barely drunk from the spring of life!

What was the purpose of these eight weeks if she were to just disappear now?

It was pointless, she knew, but she would still fight for her right to live, even as her limbs disappeared and her body shut down, she still tried to desperately fight it!

And, just as it had nearly eight weeks ago, something took note of the dying person's struggle. It was not of the Moon Cell, but it was a being of unimaginable power. And it decided that if this person was no longer needed here, then perhaps she could be of use somewhere else.

Just as Hakuno Kishinami's world went dark, she thought she heard the sound of breaking glass.

 **Kirijo Group laboratory, Yakushima**

 **3** **rd** **person POV**

Takeharu Kirijo disembarked the helicopter as soon as it hit the ground and he all but ran past the harried scientists that were supposed to act as his welcoming committee.

"Report" he demanded as the leader of the group caught up to him.

"Sir, sometime after the Dark hour last night, one of the experimental 7th generation ASW's that we still have activated by itself. We do not know how or why, as the ASW project has been frozen ever since the incident nine years ago. Anyway the ASW in question, project name 'Praetor', then proceeded to wander out of the storage facility in the lower levels and was soon spotted and detained by the base personnel. We're currently holding it in one of the laboratories on level four, with two security teams nearby and a third group looking through the storage for specialized equipment for subduing ASWs", the scientist –Professor Kazama Hiro by his nametag– explained.

"The base personnel just caught her?" Takeharu asked disbelievingly, " ASW's were made to destroy Shadows, I have a hard time believing the security guards could just capture her even if she had no weapons on her. The ones I saw when I was young could take small arms fire and bend steel beams with just their bare hands."

"Ah, the Praetor is a bit different from the production models. But the reason it was so easy, is that despite being active, the Praetor isn't complete yet. While at full power it should possess inhuman strength, it can currently barely stand up. It could walk around because it was leaning on the walls for support. We suspect there is something wrong with its balance system, the project was never finished after all. Anyway, the Praetor has also demonstrated a remarkably civil attitude, not at all what you would expect from a spontaneously activating weapon really, and so it came quietly", the professor explained and handed Takeharu a tablet as they stepped into an elevator. Takeharu snatched the tablet with his other hand as he pressed the correct floor number and then begun to read what seemed to be the last official report on the 'Praetor project'.

First he glanced at the picture of the android frame. Surprisingly, there wasn't a supermodel made of steel and synthetic skin there, but a completely ordinary girl. She had long, slightly wavy brown hair and matching eyes, but otherwise she was completely bland. Not tall or short, not really beautiful or ugly and her proportions were normal. There was nothing really distinguishing in her form; like a background character in a movie. Briefly Takeharu wondered why the engineers suddenly veered off the previous trend of trying to make the androids more and more beautiful, but he discarded the thought as unnecessary. Then he focused on the project itself. _Hmm. Meant to work as a leader unit, hence the name. Frame built with focus on mental abilities as well as wide array of sensors in mind, which takes away from purely physical abilities. Project scrapped because even with the improved technology for creating 'souls' that the 7_ _th_ _generation models utilize, it wasn't possible to ensure that the created 'soul' and Persona would fit the frame's skillset._ Rest of the report was mainly technical jargon that meant nothing to a businessman so Takeharu skipped it.

"So do we have any idea why this happened? It says here that the Praetor was not fitted with a Papillon heart before the project was scrapped", Takeharu asked the scientist who was now nervously switching from one foot to another.

"No, sir. As far as we can tell, nobody has visited the storage facility it was in in years. Current hypothesis is that the scientists working on the project installed a temporary Papillon heart to test the systems, but the scientist responsible died in the incident nine years ago before extracting it. Then the heart just lied in dormancy until an odd energy spike activated it. We should know more after some tests", the man answered and Takeharu nodded.

"Sounds plausible. I trust Ikutsuki has already been informed of this?"

"Yes. He should be here later tonight."

"Good, see that he meets with me as soon as possible. He has worked with active ASWs before, he should know what to do even better than I." They had time to exchange a few more sentences before the elevator tinged and let them to the correct floor.

Soon they arrived at laboratory. After checking with the guards at the door that it was safe, they entered and Takeharu saw the android face-to-face. She was sitting on a workbench and had apparently been intently listening as a female scientist explained something to her, though she had stopped when they entered the room.

"Mr. Kirijo! Good morning!" the woman exclaimed when she recognized her, "Praetor this is my boss Takeharu Kirijo, his family funded the project that created you." The mechanical maiden then turned her gaze at Takeharu and bowed.

"Good morning," to Takeharu's surprise, it really sounded like she meant it, "I cannot thank you enough for what you have done." Takeharu nodded in response and tried to remember other ASWs he had interacted with all those years ago. They tended to act very mechanically, especially when young, but this one had seemed remarkably human with just a single sentence. _Is there something to this model that was not mentioned in the report?_ Takeharu wondered, briefly thinking if some other organization had tampered with the ASW but it that was impossible. Not without leaving some evidence somewhere. _And it would be found_ , Takeharu decided and greeted back.

"Morning and don't mention it miss Praetor. While it was my father who created the whole program, your project has been put away for nearly a decade. The fact that you happened to wake up now is pretty much a coincidence", Takeharu noted her frowning at that, but who wouldn't frown when hearing that they exist because of freak accident? "Speaking of which, have you figured out what happened?"

"No sir. We have started some scans, but we haven't really touched her yet, just asked her some things and figure out others. For example, besides the balance issue she has some holes in her programming", the scientist explained, "big holes. As in she doesn't know what a Shadow is. Or an Anti-Shadow Supression Weapon."

"Is that even possible?" Takeharu had to ask.

"Evidently. But we really have to take a look into her programming to know more." At this, all the humans in the room turned towards the Praetor.

"Oh… I don't think I'd be comfortable with that", she remarked and Takeharu had to agree. While ASWs did have a soul, or close enough to matter, their origins were still machines. Their programming was what they were and if someone were to tamper with it, even a small change could have tremendous effects. It was not something you let just anyone get their hands on. Still, it was worrying. ASWs were dangerous, even without Personas. If one were to go on a rampage, multiple deaths were guaranteed. That's why all ASWs had programming in place to keep a tight leash on them. But if Praetor had activated through some divine prank before she was ready, she probably didn't have those limitations in place.

That was dangerous. _But, just because she can be dangerous doesn't mean she will be_ , Takeharu reminded himself, _she has already proven herself reasonable. We can work with that._

"Completely understandable, miss Praetor, but I'm afraid it is required. As you have been probably told…?" Takeharu eyed the female scientist, who nodded eagerly, "ASWs, such as yourself, are built for a purpose. A dangerous purpose and as such, we have to be certain of their functionality. Especially in your case, when you really shouldn't be activated at all. For example, I've been told your legs don't work like they should, imagine if you have something wrong with you combat protocols and they suddenly activate near civilians." Takeharu noticed how Praetor's eyes widened at the realization. _Such a human response_ , Takeharu couldn't help but notice, _maybe she has an extra-large Plume of Dusk? I think those caused the ASWs to have an identity faster. But this one wasn't supposed to even have one._

"I see. I understand what you mean", Praetor admitted, "I still don't like it."

"That is unfortunate as this is absolutely necessary is there some way we could convince you?" Takeharu queried and to his relief the Praetor seemed to actually think about it for a moment, but she then shook her head in negative.

"I'm afraid not. While you and the scientists I have met here seem the good sort, I can't really trust you with my mind after just meeting you."

"Regrettable. We can postpone the investigation a few days, but I'm afraid you will have to be detained in the base for that. Maybe we can somehow prove our reliability to you during those days" Takeharu compromised. They could always force the ASW to comply after the security teams found the right tools, or just take her when she was recharging, but that didn't really sit well with Takeharu, especially after seeing how human Praetor already was. Her whole programming could crash if it was modified roughly, effectively killing her.

"Thank you for understanding", Praetor bowed as well as she could while sitting on the table.

"It is only temporary I'm afraid. But in the meantime let us focus on what we can do. Miss Maki, you said you had already scanned her…?"

"Yes sir, I already forwarded the results to you" the female scientist nodded eagerly and pointed the tablet Takeharu was still holding. Takeharu noticed an icon blinking and after clicking it, several pictures and diagrams popped into view. The most prominent one was what Takeharu remembered as a Papillon heart: two crystalline plumes of dusk crossed over each other.

And there where the Plumes crossed, was a grain of something. Takeharu almost dismissed it as a piece of rubbish or distortion in the sensors, but the laboratory equipment was top notch, it would not just distort things. And a Papillon heart was an extremely sensitive piece of equipment that was sealed airtight in the chassis as even just breathing on it could cause contamination. There should be no rubbish there, not even after nine years of neglect.

Then what was this? The sensors couldn't tell, except that it was different sort of crystal than the Plumes. _Did the Plumes transform somehow?_ _No that's ridiculous, there would have been cases earlier_ , Takeharu tried to look over the data from the scan, but a question interrupted him.

"A photonic crystal?" Takeharu's head snapped towards Praetor who was peering at the tablet from where she was sitting.

"A what?"

"Photonic crystals are crystalline material that has the ability to manipulate light. Earliest studies of the material are from 1887, although the term itself was created in 1987. Since it can manipulate light it can be used for anything that needs manipulation of light, for example optic lenses and optic computing", Takeharu nodded at Praetors explanation and quickly verified the information with the tablets internet access.

He also checked if Kirijo Group had done any research into the material.

"Well it seems Kirijo Group was doing something concerning photonic crystals at the time you were manufactured, but according to the files it was purely theoretical work", Takeharu announced after checking the results, "still, it's a possibility. Why'd you guess its photonic crystal?"

"Ah, I'm not exactly sure. I think I accidentally activated some sort of program? I just looked at the picture and tried to read the text under it, but then I got a summarization of it."

"Well, you are supposed to be a leader unit. Enhanced data gathering programs are to be expected", Takeharu nodded at the explanation, and quickly found the part of the data where the grain's nature was speculated on, "but I think we should run a few more tests, though they can wait until our expert, well closest thing we have to an expert, on ASW's get here. I will instruct the scientists to prepare a recharge station for you. In the meantime, you" Takeharu motioned at the female scientist, "can fill her in with the most important things about her purpose." After getting confirmation, Takeharu left the laboratory though he didn't go far.

After checking that the security teams were finally appropriately armed, Takeharu was escorted into a meeting room where several scientists, but not Ikutsuki, were waiting.

"So, I seem to remember getting a report that said that we could not make more ASW's or repair the damaged ones since the engineers specializing on them died with my father. Can anyone explain how this prototype just got up and if we can revive another?"

 **Hakuno Kishinami POV**

I'm terribly confused.

One moment I'm being deleted, then the fading sensation gets replaced by a feeling of being compressed into a tiny space and then moved somewhere else. I first thought it was Rani again, hacking the system and then forcibly relocating me somewhere else.

My first elated thought was that Rani had saved me.

But then the cold reality asserted itself. Rani may have been able to hack me when I was in the arena as it was not that well protected –hell, even I managed to fish information through it with the right tool. And this time I was in the core of the Moon Cell Automaton. Not even Twice could hack it, he didn't even dare to step into it. Rani couldn't possibly have hacked it, not even if she spent all her Command Spells to it.

So I concluded that my relocation was a part of the deletion process, a one way trip to the Recycle Bin.

And then my sight came back.

It was so surprising, I didn't know what to think. For a moment I didn't even have eyes, then suddenly a flash and a stylish logo of Kirijo Group dominated my view. Then came several system startup messages, and my other senses started to come back to me, I could feel my limbs again, my ears picked up the mechanical humming of a large machine and I could feel something supporting my back and keeping me upright.

Then the last loading screen disappeared and I found myself looking through a green glass.

After a brief freaking out that I was still alive, I had assessed my situation.

I was in some sort of hi-tech pod in a storage area. I almost though it was the cryo unit where the real Hakuno Kishinami was stored, but this one didn't have any sign of ice on it, so I ruled it out. Then I noticed that my body was different, namely that my shoulders and hips were metallic joints. Then I realized that the only thing I felt was the pressure of my seat. I didn't feel cold, or warm or hungry or anything. I just was.

I admit freaking out again, I think I put my fist through the pods glass panel –it wasn't actually green, the light was- too.

Anyway, when I calmed down I managed to open the pod from within, after which I proceeded fall flat on my face on the ground, since I hadn't noticed that my new legs lacked feet, instead ending on stumps at my ankles.

It is a stupid design if you ask me, but at least they were on decent enough size instead of the sharp blades of the Effigies from the preliminary round of the Grail War.

I wandered around the storage area for a bit first, but after I failed to find any explanation I left the area and soon ran into some guards. Things got a bit tense, but luckily I managed to talk it down. Soon some scientist types came up –no doubt called by the security- and started poking and scanning me. As a sign of goodwill, I let them do them. After all, they were probably the ones responsible of my robotic body, though there were still multiple unanswered questions.

Eventually they got their scans done and left me alone with a younger female researcher called Airi Maki. She was quite friendly and she answered some of my questions to the best of her ability. That was when I learned what I am now: an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon. A combat android meant to fight beings known as Shadows. Built into human shape to help develop a human psyche and with that, the ability to use something called a Persona. Apparently this 'Persona' is some sort of mental construct that one places between itself and the world. I'm not sure I understood correctly what she meant, but we were interrupted by the appearance of Takeharu Kirijo, the CEO of Kirijo Group.

I got the impression he was a good man, if terribly stressed (I have medical scans to prove it). He didn't push the issue of my… programming, although he did make it clear it would eventually happen.

I'm not really looking forward to it.

The concept itself is nothing new to me, I've had my mind worked on many times before. There was the preliminary round of the Grail War where everyone was made to think that they were ordinary high school students. Then there was Caster and her reality marble that made me forget everything again. And finally, there was that time when Rani installed an Anti-Lancer Firewall Bypass in me, so that I could better see through Lancer's tactics.

But those times were all either forced on me or done by a trusted friend with consent. This time its going to be people I just met. People who want a _weapon_. As far as I can tell, I do not have any programming at the moment so they will no doubt add something in there. A safety or control mechanism of some sort.

A Command Seal equivalent.

An undeniable command I would have to follow. It may be hypocritical of me to fear that somebody has that kind of power over me, considering that I too once held three of them over a friend. But the Command Seals were more than just tool for obedience. They were a proof of being a Master, of a contract between Master and a Servant. Sure they could be used to bend a will, but they could be used to help the Servant too. Whatever program they'd add to me, would probably be one that forces me to obey.

Would that change me deeply? I remember some of the NPC's in Moon Cell. Issei and his routine checks of the incoming students in the morning, even if they ignored him. Sakura and her love of cooking, but restricted to once per Master per week. Taiga falling onto her desk every morning.

Would I even be aware of the changes?

…

Should I try to escape? Where would I go?

…That actually leads to another problem I found out.

The tablet Takeharu had been using, had a date displayed at the corner. At first I didn't pay it attention, but then I realized the year displayed.

24th of February _2009_.

The Grail War happened in 2030.

There are some other details that don't match either –there is no halting of technological development and from what Airi told me, magic is in no way declining.

Then what were those first eight weeks of my life?

I can't deny that they happened, the memories and feelings are too clear. But nothing I've found out after I woke up has made any sense in its context.

I'm so confused.

I sigh as I lie back onto the seat of the recharging unit that was prepared for me. It resembles the pod I woke up in, except that it doesn't have a door and inside of it is a reclining chair made of steel. There are some electric doodads on it and just laying on it is enough to bring a recharging counter to my HUD.

Speaking of which, that will take some time to get used to.

After the few mishaps (which prove Takeharu's point of needing to check my functionality) I had managed to learn how to switch on or off several different programs or modes, the method was similar enough to Code Casting. There was some sort of diagnostic vision that summarized walls of text, took some basic medical scans and analyzed the breathing air (Why do I need to breathe?). There was also thermal vision, night vision, a motion tracker and body integrity tracker. There was probably more, but since I hadn't found an owner's manual, I didn't know of them. Luckily they could all be turned off, so I could feel a bit more human when I wanted.

Now that I think about it, that is probably the reason. ASW's are supposed to develop this 'Persona' thing after all and its supposed to be easier for humans. I think. Airi wasn't really an expert of the subject, so we just skimmed it, though I resolved to find out more about them later. After all, they seemed to be an important thing when it came to fighting these Shadows… And I'm sure I would end up fighting them eventually, either out of choice or against my will.

Probably the latter. During my short life, I have fought a lot and thrived through it. But it was always out of necessity. It was always, me or them. I couldn't live and let them live. No matter how much I wanted to stop Saber from delivering the finishing blows, I've had to restrain myself and just look them in the eyes as they were deleted. I've never gone out of my way to fight anything. And I think I will never want to.

As I lay there on the charger I suddenly realize how tired I am. I check my battery, but it is over 75% and steadily filling. So how come I'm tired? Is this another function to make me more human? I really can't tell. Why do I have a preinstalled thermometer but not a manual?

I sigh again and try to find a comfortable position. If I can sleep, it'll at least take my mind off things.

As I feel sleep coming for me, I reflexively try to look around for my ever present crimson clad servant but she is, of course, nowhere to be found.

This is a bit lonely.


	2. Prologue, part 2

Prologue, part 2

 **3** **rd** **Person view**

When Hakuno woke up the next day, there were already people in her room. Hakuno was obviously outraged about people barging in to 'her room' while she slept, but when she opened her mouth, she was interrupted by a cheery voice.

"Good morning Praetor!" A tall man in a lab coat walked up to her. He had a long swept back hair and a friendly smile, "My name is Shuji Ikutsuki and I'm, well a kind-of an expert on ASW's here at Kirijo Group. I'm very pleased to meet you, we haven't had a functioning ASW here for almost ten years so forgive my enthusiasm." Hakuno automatically grasped the offered hand causing Shuji to smile wider and then mark something down on a tablet.

"What are you doing?" Hakuno asked and gestured the tablet.

"Oh, this?" Shuji asked and showed Hakuno the screen, "this is an evaluation of you. Our personnel did do some tests with you yesterday, but they were rushed and didn't really amount to all that much so now that we've had a little more time to prepare we will document your status and abilities for real. What I just checked down was that you have at least some cultural understanding programmed into you, based on the fact that you didn't hesitate to shake my hand."

Hakuno nodded at that and glanced at the screen where there was a picture of her and several headlines such as social, combat and general knowledge.

"We'll try to go through as many tests as possible today to get a good picture of how complete you are. Of course, combat tests are limited because of the whole programming thing, but well just do those afterwards," Shuji stated a bit too matter-of-factly for Hakuno's taste, but she chose to ignore it for now.

"What kind of tests are you planning for?" Hakuno asked.

"Well we'll begin with a routine maintenance check of your body, and compare some results with our records. Then we will have an evaluation of your psychological profile. It has probably been noted to you before that your personality is remarkably developed and that has me –and other people high up- intrigued. After that we'll go over your general knowledge about human society and social customs. While those aren't that important to an ASW, they will make it easier for you to interact with humans. Then we will start the combat tests, with focus on tactics as those are supposed to be your models specialty," Ikutsuki explained, "We may add to some tests depending on your results, so it is hard to say how long this all will take, but Mr. Kirijo has made sure that you will have some free time in the evening to spend as you will."

"Very well. Do we begin now or…?" Hakuno wondered if she had to prepare somehow. Considering she hadn't eaten yesterday and felt fine, she probably didn't need to eat anymore, so breakfast would be pointless. Same for showering. As for clothes…

Only Hakuno's head and hands had synthetic skin covering the metal frame. The rest of her body, with the exception of the exposed ball joints on her shoulders and hips, was covered with a thick black cloth that was essentially bolted on her and her it was a bit embarrassing for her to waltz around in what was essentially a spandex bodysuit. Sure, it wasn't the most embarrassing clothing she had seen used (Saber's transparent skirt and Rani's navel showing cleavage came to mind) and Rin's Lancer had actually donned only a blue spandex bodysuit.

But still, Hakuno felt embarrassed about it. It was only because her robotic body's limitations that she wasn't permanently blushing when people looked at her.

Nonetheless, black spandex was probably the best she would get as she was just a robot for everybody else here.

"Yes, we begin now. No 'science' waiting around!" Shuji declared with a smile, making everybody in the room cringe, before walking to the door and signing Hakuno to follow him.

Shuji then lead Hakuno to an elevator which they then took to another basement level.

"Welcome to the ASW Engineering Department Praetor! My apologies for the mess, but the engineers here are very… enthusiastic about their work and get a very few visitors, so they have grown a bit lax about certain things," Shuji explained as they entered a corridor with several boxes containing parts and some oil stains on the floor.

"Ah, it's no problem Shuji. I don't mind a little mess," Hakuno explained. She actually enjoyed seeing something that wasn't completely orderly and sterile, like the Tsukumihara Academy in Moon Cell or the Kirijo Laboratories. Even Hakuno's own room in the virtual school had always been very clean, though she wasn't sure if that was because she didn't have anything to mess it up with or if the private room shared the schools cleanliness automatically.

"Thank you for understanding. Anyway, they should be expecting us right here," Shuji said and stopped to swipe a keycard at a reader next to an armored door that read 'ASW Maintenance'. The machine beeped and Hakuno heard the electric lock open. Shuji pocketed his keycard and pushed the door open, signing Hakuno to go in first.

Behind the door was a large room with one glass wall providing a view into what was probably a testing chamber. There were also numerous screens displaying different kinds of information about ASW engineering, though Hakuno's attention was grabbed by the largest screen as it displayed a picture of her and a brief summary of the Praetor project. There were also three overall wearing men huddled together around a table, one of them looking up at her –probably alerted by the noise. He was also European.

"Ahh, the Praetor! Glad to finally meet you, come in, come in! We've been waiting", the man exclaimed and poked the other two to pay attention, before approaching Hakuno.

"I am Gerulf Friedemann, though you can refer to me as just Gerulf. I've been in charge of this branch of the laboratories for ten years now, with my enthusiastic assistants, Tsukuda and Ueda here," Gerulf introduced himself and shook Hakuno's hand, before scratching the back of his head awkwardly "Well, it sounds nice to say that I'm in charge, but considering that the ASW department has only been gutted more and more during the last decade and that I haven't even seen a functioning ASW until today, it's not really much." Hakuno really started to wonder what was up with the ASW department. Their only expert was only close enough, the department itself was disused and the head of department hadn't even seen an active model before.

"But! We still have had some exiting things to research. Such as this here," Gerulf pulled Hakuno to the table. There was a prosthetic arm on the table, hooked onto a small machine from the port on its shoulder.

"This is the Stroheim Mk IV Arm Cannon with complimentary UV-lights! I've been working on making a prosthetic version of it for human use, but I can't wait to see it used in where it was meant to be used!" His enthusiasm on the subject was palpable and Hakuno found herself liking the man's attitude.

Well, until he started fiddling with her shoulder joint with a power tool he had pulled out from nowhere.

Thankfully, Shuji had gotten over being totally ignored and stopped him before Hakuno lost an arm.

"Now now professor Friedemann, I know you've been dying to work with a functioning ASW, but Praetor is not vetted for live weapons yet. In fact, we're here only for a maintenance checkup and then we'll start mental evaluations. Combat tests are last on the list and as I said, no live weapons," Shuji said calmly and pried the man loose. He looked disappointed, but then he just sighed and put the tool on the table.

"Yes, Mr. Ikutsuki. I remember that. Ueda! Get the tools. Tsukuda, put the arm back into storage."

"And remove the magazine," Shuji finished the order.

Hakuno watched the men move with caution, while rolling here shoulder cautiously. It still moved smoothly, so Gerulf hadn't done anything yet. Still, his casual jump from cool toys to dismemberment had made Hakuno wary. Even if it wasn't done with malicious intent.

"My apologies Praetor, I got a bit exited," Gerulf apologized with a small bow, "You have to understand, I'm a bit frustrated about this whole thing. We've been so stagnant for ten years now, I couldn't help but get a little eager."

"Just… try not to do it again. What is this ten year thing anyway?" Hakuno changed the subject, while still keeping an eye on Gerulf.

"I suppose you didn't get an explanation of it yesterday then? Well, the short of it is that all of the people in the department died when the Kirijo Laboratories in Tatsumi Port Island –the original place where the ASW's were deployed– were destroyed. An experiment there went terribly wrong and the resulting explosion not only killed the CEO of the Group at that time, but also destroyed or broke beyond repair all the active ASW's. While the research data of the department was saved," Shuji waved a hand at the screens that still displayed data about ASW's, "we didn't actually have anyone alive who had worked on the ASW's anymore. I had some experience as I worked with a few in my own project, but everyone else had just the notes to rely on. Also, the explosion destroyed our stockpile of Plumes of Dusk, the most important components for making ASW's, so it was decided that no more ASW's would be made unless more Plumes were found. And that's why the department has been on the decline."

"Basically, that. Our work has been mainly reverse-engineering the existing frames in case we find something useful or learn how to recycle Plumes of Dusk. Made some headway into prosthetics with them, but no dice with the Plumes," Gerulf explained and Hakuno nodded, her curiosity sated.

Then the assistants returned, one of them pushing a cart with some sort of machine and a toolbox on it. Gerulf grabbed the toolbox and motioned Hakuno to sit on one of the chairs around the table.

"Well then, let's get started. Ueda, get the maintenance tutorial on the big screen!" Gerulf hollered to the assistant.

Hakuno felt that this wasn't very good idea.

 _ **Evaluation report**_

 _ **Subject name:**_ _7_ _th_ _generation Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon "Praetor"_

 _ **Psyche evaluation**_ _: Praetor has displayed, according to records we have access to, abnormally well-developed personality that is indistinguishable from a human one. She thinks of herself as a human for all intents and purposes, while still acknowledging her artificial nature._

 _As for her personality itself, she has shown herself to be a determined and caring person, with a strong sense of duty. The first and last ones are, according to the records, recurring traits of ASW's, it is suspected to have its origins in ASW's original nature as a programmed machines. Tendency to care about things that are not directly important to the ASW is a bit more common trait on older ASW's, but almost unheard of in new ones like Praetor. Still, it is on a healthy level and we do not see it becoming a problem in the future._

 _Alarmingly, Praetor also displayed some level of Hedonism during the tests. For example, she admitted admiring art for its beauty and later became distressed when she found out she cannot taste candies or other food. It is unclear how she developed it, but it should be kept an eye on in case it develops into a problem._

 _ **Frame evaluation**_ _: Praetor's body is not all that different from what is considered normal for a 7_ _th_ _generation ASW. While it lacks the sheer power of a normal ASW frame, it has greatly enhanced senses to make up for it. Especially sight and hearing are augmented with multiple different modes Praetor can activate at will, although having many of them on eats her batteries fast. She also has an amplifier we theorize should be able to strengthen telepathy from a Persona, but we cannot test that theory without Miss Kirijo._

 _Due to the lack of power, Praetor cannot be equipped with some of the heavier gear (both arms and armor) we have in storage. Instead she has to rely on evading attacks and her Persona to fight and defend herself. In relation to this, while calibrations have helped with Praetor's stumbling problem, she still falls when moving quickly. Switching legs didn't help, so we have started to design additional stabilizers she could wear on her feet like shoes to help with the problem._

 _ **Combat evaluation:**_ _As Praetor's weapon systems are locked until her programming has been checked, the combat tests focused on theoretical part of combat, with focus on strategy and tactical abilities as those are supposed to be the model's specialties._

 _Praetor displayed excellent aptitude for combat on small unit tactics in different environments. In all situations she assumed a leading/supporting role in combat and, while going out of her way to avoid fighting personally, had no qualms for leading from the front. She also showed great concern for her comrades, making sure they all survived the missions. She also displayed this kindness to her enemies, killing only when necessary and even then with reluctance. In our opinion, she would probably have some trouble taking a human life unless it was absolutely necessary._

 _It is also important to note that while Praetor showed great tactical use of items, the manner in which she did so could also be considered rather wasteful._

 _ **Knowledge evaluation:**_ _Over a course of several situations, both in tests and outside of them, Praetor has displayed a broad knowledge of everyday life and skill in socialization. Her basic education is mainly average high school level, with few exceptions. Praetor has broad knowledge of history and mythology, while her modern knowledge (or what was modern when she was built) is lacking. We believe this to be on purpose, but details can be found in attachment_ _04a_ _._

 _Nonetheless, with Praetor's displayed all around knowledge of human society we believe she could function perfectly well in human environment without revealing her artificial nature._

 _ **Important:**_ _Despite careful examination between and during the tests, we found no evidence of outside tampering from Praetor. Combined with the results from the investigation into her storage area, it is unlikely that she awakened intentionally. However, definite proof of this can only be obtained if we check her main programming._

 _ **Our conclusion:**_ _We believe that after Praetor's programming has been checked and the remaining combat tests (live weapons, actual combat, Orgia mode, summoning a Persona) executed, she should be relocated into Tatsumi Port Island, where she should be placed in the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad under Miss Kirijo. They are still lacking members and Praetor's already displayed abilities would be very useful to the group, even if she didn't have a Persona._

Takeharu smiled as he read through the report Ikutsuki had just sent him. The man had done good work once again. And the news was good too: Praetor would be a great asset for S.E.E.S. according to these results. Takeharu could sleep better at night knowing that his precious daughter had a weapon like Praetor at her side. And then he immediately felt bad about thinking Praetor as a mere weapon, hadn't he already concluded that she was a person from their first meeting? And hadn't the science team come to just that same conclusion in the report he just read?

Takeharu sighed tiredly. He really wasn't cut out for this, he just wasn't pragmatic enough. While he could plot and plan, he just couldn't be ruthless enough when needed. Ikutsuki had said him so multiple times and while Takeharu liked the man, he just couldn't be a pragmatist like him. He regretted too many things already; he didn't want to add to them just because it would be easier.

After one final glance through the report Takeharu closed the file and prepared to go over other reports from the Kirijo Group.


	3. Prologue, part 3

Many thanks to Nitewind for betaing!

 **Prologue part 3**

 **Hakuno's room**

I stare at the small time display at the corner of my eye. About fifteen minutes until they come to get me. My charge is at 100%.

I am well rested.

I have been cooperative until now.

I might be able to take down whoever they sent to get me and then escape into the laboratories, then it would just be a matter of evading capture until I can make it out. I would have an edge at that with my minimap and sensors.

It should be possible to escape.

But then what? Clearly, this company is great. I wouldn't be able to escape them. Besides, ASW's like me are rare. How long could I go before this body would have to be repaired? Or recharged? I know the charge level doesn't affect my vitality, after all the day before yesterday I fell asleep despite having over three fourths of my charge left, but what will happen when that goes to zero? Better not find out.

So, the course is clear. I have to stay with the Kirijo Group.

And that means letting them look into my mind.

I still don't like it.

But as I have no choice, I must just grit my teeth and let it happen. Like before.

But this time, no-one dies. It's a small relief.

And then, on the clock, the door opens and Shuji Ikutsuki walks in.

"Good morning, Praetor!" he greets me enthusiastically. It feels insulting, he knows what I'm about to go through today. I just nod at him in response. He frowns a little at that, but then shrugs it off.

"Well, we'll be doing the check in one of the old labs in the ASW Engineering department. I will personally conduct the check with some researchers assisting me. Oh, and Mr. Kirijo himself wants to oversee the process. Knowing him, he'll also want to talk to you before we begin."

"About what?" I ask him as we depart the room.

"He is probably going to apologize about this whole thing again. Despite his appearance he is a bit… Well, weak minded is probably not the right word," Shuji explains while we wait for the elevator, "but he is smart enough to understand that this is necessary. We can't have something like you walking around and not knowing if you are in working order or not. At the same time, he feels very guilty that this has to be done."

"I would not call that a weakness," I respond. The image Shuji gives me fits very well with what I have learned of the man myself. I can't help but suspect a little that maybe it's intentional.

The elevator doors open and we step in. Shuji presses the ASW Engineering Department's button and then turns to me.

"In a normal man it might not be. But Mr. Kirijo is the CEO of an multimillion international company. At that level, it is very much a weakness."

"If he doesn't have the heart for his profession, then why is he still the CEO? I understand that it is a family business, but couldn't someone else in the family do it, or maybe he could just appoint someone he trusts?"

"That is a good point, but I'm afraid the answer is personal to him. What I can say, is that his wife and parents are dead and his daughter becomes eighteen years old in a few months."

So most of the family was dead. Didn't Shuji mention that the previous CEO died when the laboratories exploded ten years ago? That was probably Kirijo senior. And that was an interesting tidbit that Takeharu has something more than familial obligations keeping him in play. Not that I could do anything with that information now, but I with little research I could…

Wait, what am I doing? This is not the Grail War. There is no Information Matrix to be filled here. And even if I do fill one about him, what use would it be when it's not just me against him?

Gah, I'm just… dealing with this the only way I know. I shouldn't do that, this kind of thinking doesn't work here. The Grail War was a special cage match where everyone was everyone's enemy in the end. Takeharu Kirijo is not an enemy. Sure, he is doing something I don't like, but he has to. I should understand necessity.

I take a deep breath to focus myself. This draws a raised eyebrow from Shuji, because I shouldn't need to breathe. I merely have the function so as not to draw attention if I'm around civilians.

 **ASW Engineering department**

We arrive at the laboratories. They are a bit farther from the elevators than the Maintenance rooms, but in contrast this corridor is a lot cleaner. Probably because it is not used as much. Shuji again opens the locked door with his keycard and again he allows me to enter first.

This room is large and open. The wall furthest from the door several has large machines set up against it and numerous screens hanging from an extendable scaffold on the ceiling. At the center of the room is a large pod reminiscent of the one I've been using for a few nights now. The seating is the same armchair style, but it has numerous cables leading to it and plugging in around the area that would support my neck.

Takeharu and Gerulf are standing next to the pod. They both greet me as I step into the room. Gerulf is still enthusiastic, while Takeharu seems tense, though he relaxes slightly as I greet them back.

"Ikutsuki, make the final preparations with professor Friedemann, I would like to discuss something private with Praetor," Takeharu says, just as Shuji predicted, and we then retire to the empty corridor.

"So, what do you think Praetor?" Takeharu asks as soon the door closes behind us.

"I still don't like this. Nothing besides my occasional balance mishaps point at there being anything wrong with my programming," and I am sure that is only because I have yet to figure out walking without feet, "still, I can understand your motivations and… accept them, though I will hold a grudge against you for this." I declare. It's a compromise at best. I am clearly the one who gets the least out of this, but it's all I get.

"… Its probably the best I can ask. I do hope you will find it in yourself to forgive me in time," Takeharu nods at my words.

"I doubt it. I am going to be paranoid about everything afterwards, you know. I don't really believe that you won't install something in me. Maybe it's just an emergency shutdown. Maybe it's something that enforces obedience. Anyway, I am going to doubt my reactions to everything."

"I assure you the latter won't happen. Not only do I find it extremely loathsome option, but considering your developed personality, it might irreparably damage you. I am going to personally check Ikutsuki's work so that there will be no controls installed." Takeharu speaks with conviction, I don't think he is lying. But that is only one thing I won't have to worry about.

"So the shut-down command is a given, huh?" I ask, though it's more rhetoric.

"Of some sort, yes."

"Well… it's not something I like having over me. How are you going to use it?"

"Exactly as you said. An emergency shutdown in case you malfunction."

"… Not going to use it to enforce orders?"

"What use would that be? We can only shut you down. As I said before, truly modifying you can damage you. In your core there is a Plume of Dusk, you remember them from the first day, right? It's one of the few working Plumes we have left, if it's damaged, we lose an unmatched resource. And since we can't even reuse Plumes, it is in our best interests to ensure that the ones in use are preserved. So, we _cannot forcibly change you_ ," Takeharu clearly emphasizes the last point, "thus, to get your loyalty, we have to use same means as with our other employees. After you are cleared from this, we will offer you work in Kirijo Group with all it entails and certain privileges: regular pay, a place to live, even a chance to live among humans, though you will have to keep your artificial nature secret."

This… is a good offer. And it makes sense too.

"That is a good offer…" I admit, "but what kind of work would it be? I, well, I know I am a 'weapon', but... I do not want to limit myself to that." I do not really fancy the idea of more fighting.

"I can understand your reluctance, even though it is shame to lose your combat ability… But this is a discussion for later. Perhaps after Ikutsuki clears you. If you really don't want to fight, the combat tests should be lessened."

"I would like that," I nod, perhaps a little eagerly. And then my rising mood plummets as Takeharu opens the laboratory door again. I look into the empty corridor behind me.

I can still escape. _Initiating scan…_

Guess it can't be put off for any longer. _Surveillance systems detected, human presencex8 detected._

I grit my steel teeth and take a deep breath as I approach the pod. Shuji and Gerulf offer some encouragement as I pass them, but I don't really listen. I only have eyes for that chair.

Somehow I'm reminded of the last stairs to the Holy Grail, the ones I had to climb alone.

Heh, I wish Saber could slip in here with me again.

I sit down on the chair and instantly feel something on the back of my neck.

I miss her.

Connecting cables.

Online Confirmed.

 **Takeharu POV, ASW Engineering department**

"…Connection terminated, cables off," Ikutsuki declares with a final click of keyboard. Praetor immediately snaps her eyes open and leaps out of the chair, one hand groping the nape of her neck–making sure that the cables really are off. After finding just bare synthetic skin, she relaxes slightly and takes a bit to focus herself. Or maybe to check if she feels any different.

I signal the others to give her a minute, as we aren't in a hurry anymore. With the emergency override command in place, she was as safe as could be.

"My… It's done then? You added the command in me?" Praetor asks after a while, her posture tense.

"Yes, the emergency override was the only command we programmed into you," I reassure her.

"Ooh, but since it turned out you lacked just about all programming, we also put in few essentials you lacked!" Friedemann adds with a cheer, which is a mistake.

"Wha-, Add? You said it was just that-!" Praetor snaps, her voice hostile. Friedemann, however, just raises his hands in a placating gesture.

"Peace, miss Praetor, peace! As I said they are ASW essentials. And they are programs, not commands! You choose to use them, not us."

"What kind of programs?" Praetor asks warily.

"The best kind! There is the Orgia Mode, which basically overclocks your everything, and an aim assist, which should help you with firearms," Ikutsuki giggles at Friedemann's choice of words, "hmm. Anyway, they are basics that every ASW has. We suspect you lacked them because you are not meant to be a direct combat unit." We had had a little debate over that, in fact. I thought that since Praetor had displayed reluctance to become a weapon, we shouldn't force the issue, but Ikutsuki and Friedemann had raised some good points in their favor, like need for test results for future research.

Besides, they can always be removed later.

"Even if they are basic things, you should have asked! I shouldn't have to remind you that this is my mind we are talking about!" Praetor exclaims, but she isn't as hostile as before. Just angry.

"Our apologies for that, miss Praetor," I apologize to her, "But, shall we move to a more comfortable setting? I believe a small reprieve would be fine before we continue your testing?"

Praetor lets out a long breath with her hands folded across her chest before answering.

"Yes… Let's do that." I smile at her reassuringly.

"Actually, I do believe we could take this outside. It is a beautiful day and I believe you haven't been outside yet? While the nature here at Yakushima isn't at its best in this season, it is still a beautiful place." This catches Praetor's attention.

"Out… side? Yes! That's fine with me!" She exclaims eagerly. I'm surprised at her reaction, but considering it would be her first time outdoors, it should actually be expected. Again I can't but marvel at her humanity.

"Well, while that's all good for you, I should go and prepare the rest of the tests: get a gun ready for her and prepare the testing chamber. So, excuse me," Gerulf declares and leaves the room with a stride. Well, he is finally getting what he wants, I'm not sure how to feel about that. He is good at his job, but I feel a bit uneasy when he starts talking about weapons with such fervor.

"Shall we go then?" I ask Ikutsuki and Praetor, while discreetly signaling to the security teams nearby with the remote in my pocket. I'm actually pretty sure Praetor can detect the gadget, but I don't want to be blatant about it.

Praetor nods eagerly, before something seems to dawn to her and she schools a happy, but less overt expression on her face.

Did she… get embarrassed?

 **Hakuno's POV, Kirijo Compound courtyard**

It is hard to believe it's still February when the sun shines so brightly on the cloud free sky and the forest is vibrant green. The temperature is around 15 degrees Celsius… I can't remember if that is exceptionally hot, in the Moon Cell things like temperature didn't really matter unless they were about mortal combat.

But I shouldn't think of that place now.

This is the first time I am really outside in the real world. The first time I truly see the sun! The first time I see the sky! The first time I feel the wind! The first time I really see a natural forest! It's all so colorful, so great, so, so…

Underwhelming.

Yes, I will always treasure these first moments of genuine nature I have witnessed, but everything feels a bit muted.

I see the sun, but my vision adjusts so I'm not blinded.

I feel the wind, but it's just a slight pressure on me.

I see the forest, but I don't smell the greenery.

I am haunted by the authenticity of .PH. and my current limitations.

I have been blinded by the glare of the sun.

I have looked at the sky and seen hints of something beyond.

I have felt the wind caress my hair.

I have smelt fresh foliage.

Ah, how I have been spoiled during my eight weeks.

Still, I should just enjoy the scenery, beauty is still beauty after all. I lean back on my deck chair and fold my hands under my head. I actually feel the sun now, the black spandex really absorbs it, heating up my body. Shuji lounges similarly on another chair, but Takeharu has taken a normal chair and speaks into a phone about something related to Kirijo Group's new product. He has been on the phone since we left the lab, a CEO has a lot of work.

Shuji, on the other hand, seems relaxed, he even sent an intern to get chilled drinks for him and Takeharu, as I don't need to drink.

Which is really irritating.

"So, Praetor –I can call you that, right?" Shuji suddenly states, "Given a thought of what you are going to do after this? I heard from Takeharu that you are not that keen on the idea of being a 'weapon'."

"That's right," I close my eyes, partly out of irritation. I thought I could have more time to think about this. "I don't really have an idea. Perhaps I could get a basic education of sorts? I know I have a high school level knowledge now, but I can't really do many jobs with just that?"

"Mmm. That's right. Finished education is really needed to get to anywhere in society these days. Even with the Kirijo backing… Your options would be limited," Shuji sips on his drink, "So, naturally you would be interested in finishing school. As it happens, the Kirijo Group does own a high school and I am its chairman."

"So it would be easy to transfer me in and get me a free pass on things like sports and health checkups," I see where this is going, "But?"

"Gekkoukan High School is located on Tatsumi Port Island. You remember that there was a Kirijo Group laboratory there? Well, it was also the main deployment location for Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons."

Well, that doesn't sound good.

"That was because of Tartarus. It is a sort of nest of Shadows, meaning that there are a lot more of those monsters present there than anywhere else, making the Dark Hour especially dangerous."

"So if I went there, I would be in considerable danger when the night comes?"

"Yes. As is everyone else who is active during the Dark Hour. That is why, after we lost the ASW's, we created the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, S.E.E.S. for short. It is made up of what few Persona users we could gather." At this Shuji looks me in the eyes. What is-

"The problem is that the S.E.E.S. members are just teens and that there are just two of them. They can't be everywhere at once, which is evidenced by the increasing amount of Lost appearing in the city." At this he hands me a report from a folder he had picked up when we left the lab.

The report details something called the Apathy Syndrome. Apparently when a Shadow attacks an unprotected human, they either destroy or devour their minds, leaving behind a zombie like shell of a human that doesn't do anything anymore. They have no minds of their own, no emotions, and no wants. If left alone they just die without doing anything. There is no known cure.

"Mr. Kirijo's daughter Mitsuru Kirijo has been fighting Shadows since a very young age, most of that alone as Persona users are exceedingly rare. A few years ago, however, she managed to recruit a few middle schoolers: Akihiko Sanada and Shinjiro Aragaki. The latter, however, suffered an accident in the line of duty which led to the death of a civilian. He couldn't take the guilt and left the group. From what I have heard of him since… He isn't doing that good."

More reports. A redhead young woman that somehow reminds me of Rin Tohsaka. A white haired boy with a cocky grin. A brooding boy with a beanie. The files aren't complete, but they have a few things about them.

Mitsuru wants to help her father, who feels that the situation in Tatsumi Port Island is the Kirijo Group's fault. Something to do with the laboratory there?

Akihiko is an orphan who wants to feel powerful, and fights because of that.

Shinjiro's file is as Shuji said, but the names are crossed out. There are a lot of notices of him skipping school.

"I understand you do not want to fight, and I respect your opinion. But the truth is that the S.E.E.S. could really use a hand. The two of them try their best, and they have done well in their situation. But if we had more manpower we could do so much more. For example, Tartarus: it is impossible to climb it alone, there are too many Shadows there. But even with just a group of three Persona users, it would be possible to study the lower floors and maybe find something we can use against Shadows. Maybe even find clues for healing the Apathy Syndrome. But we need power for that. The power of an ASW would really make a difference."

…I see.

Indeed, as I read through the files, I can think of how having someone like me could help them.

 _The old knight gives me a grandfatherly smile and asks me to learn something from my battles._

There will be risks… but if I could help, should I turn away?

 _"'Keep on fighting' only if you ask the Holy Grail this, I will let you pass," the miracle doctor, Twice H. Pieceman declares with absolute surety._

I will not like it… but is that reason enough to forsake others?

 _Only the winning Master may leave: Shinji/Dan/Alice/Gatou/Julius/Rin/Leo/Twice disintegrates before my eyes._

My final moments in the Holy Grail flash in my mind. That feeling, that surety of 'I am doing the right thing.'

 _Julius gives me a teary smile as his finally accepts death._

I-

 _The small, hesitant smile on Rani's lips_

I, could I do that again?

 **Takeharu POV, Kirijo Laboratories**

I watch Praetor walk inside with a heavy heart. The decision is weighing heavily on her. Once she is out of hearing range, I look at Ikutsuki.

"I saw what you did to her." He doesn't look surprised at my words.

"Of course you did," he answers lightly. How can he say it like that?

"That's it? You just emotionally blackmailed her into putting her life into jeopardy, after she clearly stated she didn't want to do that!" I snap at him. He just smiles at me.

"I didn't lie to her. Well, I left some details out of Aragaki's file, but they weren't important for this."

"You manipulated her!"

"We _need_ her. Besides, you read her file. The moment she learned of S.E.E.S.'s situation she would have helped of her own will, I just gave her the information now."

"But-!"

"But nothing! Mr. Kirijo, no, Takeharu. I am not proud of doing this, but it had to be done. Apathy Syndrome cases are increasing, and Mitsuru is growing restless with the lack of results. She might do something reckless if this continues, it is best that she has more backup than just Akihiko."

He is right. I know my daughter. But this still feels wrong.

"Besides, no matter how lifelike she is, in the end she is a machine created for a purpose."

Again with that. I think I used that reasoning myself too, when I first met her. She is a machine with a purpose.

I'm not sure I can think like that anymore.

"That's cold mindset," I weakly remark.

"But necessary, if we mean to destroy the Dark Hour," Ikutsuki adjusts his glasses and looks me in the eye, "I wish this wasn't necessary either, but I see no other way. If we don't get reinforcements soon, I'm afraid Mitsuru might try something rash to change the status quo. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to prepare Praetor's combat tests." I watch in silence as Ikutsuki departs.

He is right. I know my daughter. Tartarus taunts her with its existence every night.

I hope I won't regret this later.

 **Hakuno's POV, ASW testing chambers, Dark Hour**

I haven't really paid attention to this before, as I've been asleep, but the Dark Hour is pretty creepy.

Moonlight turns green, water turns into blood, normal machines stop, humans are encased in coffins, and Shadows appear.

I make a distinction between normal machines, as the effect doesn't affect machinery equipped with Plumes of Dusk like the ASW's.

This testing chamber also has a Plume of Dusk integrated with its systems, as do several other systems in the ASW department.

Like the lights, not that it matters to me since I have a night vision. But it lets the humans who are not in coffins observe the tests. "The humans" being Takeharu and Shuji. Apparently the ability to move during the Dark Hour is almost as rare as an ability to use a Persona, though Shuji said he gained the ability artificially. There is probably a reason why they don't have more people go through the same treatment.

I briefly entertain the idea of Takeharu doing it so he doesn't have to pay scientists for the extra hour.

"We are ready Praetor, you can do it whenever you want," Shuji's voice comes from the speakers around the room. I nod in the control room's direction.

So, I should have the program for an Evoker already installed, but how do I use it? I got an arming code from Gerulf before he was incapacitated, but how do I use it? Do I just speak it? No wait, all these programs have been like using Code Casts. So something like that…

Summoning something…

Maybe like using a Command Seal? What did that feel like again? I did only ever use one…

Focus.

There, I feel something.

Or more like, I feel myself, if that makes any sense.

Its building up. My head hurts.

 _Initiate summoning sequence,_ the message flashes in my eyes. The arming code!

"Alea Iacta Est" I declare. The Roman theme continues, but I don't disapprove.

The message disappears. My head hurts.

 _activated,_ another message appears, but I ignore it as another feeling overtakes me and sheer dread seizes my mind.

I!

It's just like in the Holy Grail!

I'm being erased! The program, was it a trap?! Is this the Dagger Jewel all over again?

No! I feel my existence quiver.

I refuse to disappear! The feeling stops.

No matter the pain!

No matter the fear!

I refuse! I refuse!

And then,

the sound of breaking glass washes everything away and a blue light illuminates the room, focusing into a human form before me.

 **Thou art I**

 _Golden hair curls into a bun, with a single antenna pointing up at its base._

Is this?

 **And I art thou.**

 _A red dress and a transparent skirt take form._

Who else could it be?

 **You are my Master**

 _Green eyes open._

A Persona is a manifestation of a person's mentality, a construct that helps them against hardships.

 **and I am your Saber.**

 _A large sword, shaped like a tongue of flame, appears in its hands._

Of course, a protecting construct of mine would take that form. After all, she has always protected me and stood by my side to the bitter end.

A perfect simulacrum of Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus gives me a smile and embraces me.

And for the first time since Moon Cell, I feel safe.


	4. Chapter 1: First Impressions

Many thanks to Nitewind for betaing!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

 **Chapter 1 First Impressions**

 **13.3.2009**

 **Mitsuru's POV, Iwatodai dorm**

I glanced at the clock for what felt like the hundredth time this morning. Today we would get a new member for S.E.E.S., an Anti-shadow Suppression Weapon called Praetor, or as her student ID named her, Hakuno Kishinami.

Apparently, she was some kind of remnant from my grandfather's research into Plumes of Dusk: a gynoid capable of operating during the Dark Hour and summoning its own Persona. It had sounded really good when I was first told about her capabilities and that idea was only reinforced by the records Ikutsuki brought me.

Praetor herself was built with a focus on support, with diminished –for an ASW I'm told- direct combat ability like firepower or resilience. She made up for it with enhanced sensor systems and tactical mindset. During combat tests with her Persona, she had used her gun to either disrupt spellcasting or creating openings.

It was a highly intuitive combat style that focused on hampering the enemy instead of damaging them.

It would not win any battles as it was.

But that was where her Persona came in.

Saber was a direct combat type Persona wielding a two handed sword that could burst into flame. With Praetor creating openings, Saber could rush in and deal grievous damage, before returning to protect its mechanical mistress. It would be a powerful combination attack against a single foe.

Truly, the only weakness in them was that in order to use Saber effectively, Praetor had to get to the frontlines and thus, leave herself open for counterattacks… But she was an ASW, she should be able to take at least a little more punishment than a human and even then, I could assign people to protect her. Akihiko won't do, as he relies on his own mobility to avoid attacks, not to mention that protecting like that isn't in his nature. Shinjiro would be better, if only he would join us again.

Maybe I should bring the matter up with Akihiko one of these days? Shinjiro might change his mind if we start actually getting results and with bigger group…

Before I notice, I have already pulled out a notebook and began to scribble half-thought out plans down.

Exploring Tartarus… That's a must after we have gotten new members. Praetor now and then this girl from school that Ikutsuki says might have potential.

Studying Shadows… We already have some information about Shadows, but it's all nearly a decade old and it's more scientific than combat data. If we could gather enough samples of different types, we might be able to start recognizing patterns. Wasn't Praetor supposed to have something for that?

Can Personas somehow treat the Apathy Syndrome? With different kinds of Personas there is bound to be a healing type…

Suddenly, I hear the front door open and realize I had gotten lost in my own thoughts. Well, no harm there. I calmly shut the notebook and leave it on the kitchen table while I go greet the new, well, girl.

"…this is the dorm lobby. The computer over there is used to record people's comings and goings, it is connected to school servers too." I hear Ikutsuki explain and then I see Praetor face to face.

She looks… different, and I do not mean how she was now wearing Kirijo Group company jacket and pants, making her look like a common worker.

I had of course seen a picture of her before, from when she was switched off. An unremarkable face that was neither ugly nor beautiful. Long slightly wavy brown hair. Simple brown eyes. Nothing that would draw attention to her or would imply she was anything but another human.

Well, except for the exposed joints on her shoulders and hips (can those be armored? They look a bit vulnerable, I should ask Ikutsuki).

She was still unremarkable, but there was a subtle change there. Her eyes had a spark of life in them. She had an expression –a kind smile- and there was passion in her movements.

I-

It is really hard to believe that she is the same man-made doll as in the picture. I knew Plumes of Dusk were literally magic but to this extend!

"Greetings chairman, Praetor," I greet the two of them.

"Good to see you Mitsuru," Ikutsuki smiles, "Let me formally introduce you. Hakuno, this is miss Mitsuru Kirijo, Takeharu's daughter and overall commander of S.E.E.S. Mitsuru, this is Hakuno Kishinami, the 7th generation Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon, model Praetor. She's a bit fond of her chosen name, so please humor her."

"Good day miss Mitsuru," Praetor beams at me, "Just as he said, please refer to me as Hakuno Kishinami."

She seems to be in a good mood. Maybe because this is her first real foray into the real world outside the laboratory in Yakushima?

"Very well then, Kishinami. I look forward to working with you. I apologize for Akihiko not being here, but he had a prior engagement with the boxing club…" Really, we have the whole month free and just the day she comes in, he has match?

"Ah, so that's why Akihiko isn't here. Strange that he didn't mention it to me?" Ikutsuki muses.

"You know how he is. He probably didn't think it was important," I answer, "but he will be here later. You have read his file, correct?" I address Hakuno and she nods, "it should be pretty up-to-date. I'll introduce you to each other, come evening."

"I await eagerly!" Hakuno says, before giving Ikutsuki a questioning look, "In the meantime, if we could continue the tour…?"

"Yes, we can continue, though if Mitsuru isn't too busy, maybe she should finish? She is the one who lives here after all."

"Yes I can finish it. Just a tour of the dorm?" It would be a good way to get a bead on her personality and motives. The report just said she wanted to 'live' hence she's going to school and trying to fit into human society. The whole idea sounds a bit weird, but from what I have seen of her she probably can pull it off.

"Yes, thank you Mitsuru. I'll go into my room to finish her transfer papers then," Ikutsuki thanks and waves us goodbye.

"Well Kishinami. If I heard chairman correctly, he had already started to explain you about the lobby?" I turn to the gynoid.

"Yes, he explained how the doors are fortified in case of a large Shadow attack and about the computer too," she explains, though she then starts to fidget before asking a bit shyly:

"Ahh, Mitsuru? You can just call me Hakuno, you know."

"Really?" I am a bit surprised at her forwardness, but I don't let it show, "isn't that a bit personal way to address someone I just met?"

"It is?" She looks genuinely surprised by this, "Well, even if we just met, we are going to work together for the foreseeable future, right? And you did read my file, so you probably know almost everything about me, so I don't see any problem with that."

"Well… Though that is correct, I don't feel it is right when its just one-sided," I explain my case calmly. Why is she raising a fuss about this? "I think we should wait for a while before getting friendly like that. Who knows, we might not get along."

"If that's what you want. I can still call you Mitsuru, right?"

"Yes, go ahead. Now to get back to the original subject. The lobby also serves as a living room and a gathering place for the dorm members, hence the sofas and armchairs and such. There is also a kitchen over there, but you won't probably be using it," I begin explaining while showing the relevant things.

"Oh I will! I've… heard stuff about cooking and would really like to test my hand at it," Praetor declares intently.

"Really? Well, you should probably restrain from doing that for now. I mean, I have most of my meals prepared for me beforehand and Akihiko just eats protein supplement and noodles, and the latter is usually take-out or instant. It would be shame to throw the food away if you go through the trouble of preparing it."

"Oh. Well, I'll shelve the idea for now until we get new members. Though that'll probably take a while…" she mutters the last faintly, almost making me feel bad.

"Don't let it get to you," that's supposed to get to me, I'm the one who has found a grand total of two Persona users in more than five years, "we do have our eye on a new potential at the moment. If all goes right, she will join us during this month."

"Really? That's a good thing," she smiles again.

"It is. But we should continue the tour. Toilets are there, though again you won't need them."

"Actually I might use them a few times. You see, while I don't need to eat, I sometimes might have to. You know, to appear human and all. So I have this container in me I have to empty once in a while."

"Okay. I'm going to stop assuming you don't have human bodily functions now." Her makers were really dedicated it seems.

"That's about it for the lobby. There is a back door over there, but it's usually locked. Next up is the second floor," I explain as we move to the stairs.

"There is not much here, but it is the designated boys floor so if we get more male members, they will be given rooms here. The last room on the left is Akihiko's. There is a vending machine here, but there is an identical one in the next floor too."

"This is the girls floor, its pretty much identical to the boys floor. My room is the first on the left, yours is the last one on the right, there is a recharging station installed in there along with a few things that you might need, like ammo for your gun and a toolkit for self-maintenance. Oh, and school uniforms. Only winter models though, as your shoulders and hips have to be covered."

"Can I go take a look?"

"No, let's finish the tour first."

"This is the top floor. Unofficially, it's the S.E.E.S. floor. We have meetings with the chairman regarding the Dark hour in the Command room here. Normal people shouldn't be let here, as not only do we store some weapons here, under lock and key of course, but there is also classified information here, like reports on Shadows and Dark Hour. Sure if an uninvolved civilian comes in and looks at them, they won't realize it's anything serious, but we shouldn't take the risk," I also show Kishinami the toilets and the door to the roof before we enter the command room.

"As I said, this is the Command Room, note the armored doors again. The systems in here are all linked to a Plume of Dusk, so they can function during the Dark Hour. The chairman usually spends Dark Hour either here or in another safe room in his home or other Kirijo properties, as he doesn't have a Persona and thus is vulnerable to a Shadow attack," I walk to the control panel and open the main menu.

"This is the main computer. It has several functions, but for S.E.E.S. its most important thing is its sensor systems. It can detect Shadows quite well and it has all information on Iwatodai and the Port Island in its databanks so it can be used to locate targets and plan interception routes. It also monitors dorm security, no doubt you already noticed all the cameras, as well as the school grounds in case something extraordinary happens when Dark Hour comes. There is also a top-of-the-line communications suite to a few Kirijo laboratories, in case we need scientific expertise. I don't know if there is any synergy between your own abilities and it, but I'm hoping we can find out during the next weeks. Questions?"

"I think I got everything, thank you. It is a bit simple though. Have you thought about adding some art here? It would do good for the atmosphere of the dorm," Kishinami scratches the back of her head in very human manner, "as for questions, what does S.E.E.S. actually do? To my understanding, exploring Tartarus has been deemed too risky with just three members. Do we patrol the area during the Dark Hour? Do we do anything outside of it?"

"We don't really patrol the area. Akihiko likes to do it every now and then, as he is perfectly capable of defeating small groups of Shadows, but we do not coordinate it in any way. We mainly rely on the sensors here, as well as Penthesileia's sensory ability. Outside of Dark Hour… well there isn't really all that much to do. Kirijo group has employees in place to do things then. There may be some investigations in people with the potential to use Persona, but those have been all wrong until now."

"Ok. What about these books then, are all of them about Shadows and Dark Hour?" Kishinami asks as she looks around the room, paying extra attention to the bookshelves.

"It really varies. They are mostly research data about those, but there is also data about Personas and some study into them. Some books are about Jungian psychology, some about Tarot Cards because of the Arcanas. The chairman even found Lovecraftian horror stories in there once."

"Oh, this?" Kishinami suddenly pulls a book from the shelf and shows it to me.

"The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath? That doesn't look like something that should be here. Put it on the table over there, the chairman probably put it in there by accident. Any more questions?"

"No I think between you and Shuji, I have everything covered. Thank you, Mitsuru."

"It was nothing Kishinami," I shrug off her thanks, "let's go to your room now. There are still a few things left for your inauguration."

"Now this is your room," I explain Kishinami as we step in. Its very bleak, to tell the truth. Just a long storage closet on one wall and a recharging station on the other. Large toolkit is in a corner, flanked by large boxes of which at least one bears a 'Danger! Explosives!' sign on its side. At first I thought it was good enough for a gynoid, but after actually talking to Kishinami, I have to admit I have underestimated her humanity. At the very least, she is the type to fill her room with drawings and color.

Well, she would customize the room to her liking quickly. Still, I felt a bit bad for just assuming that a machine would just accept a bleak room. Just a little though.

Kishinami herself looked a bit around the room, looking into the closet and into the boxes, before sighing:

"At least it's a step up. I can customize this, right?"

"Yes you can, though if you want to do something drastic like change the tapestry, you should inform the chairman first."

"Good. Very good," Kishinami's smile takes an… odd glint as she mutters that.

"Well then, this leaves only two things to be done," I change the subject and walk to the computer hooked to the recharging station, "the other one can be done later when Akihiko returns, but you can start this now." I open the computer and access certain files.

Files containing information on persons with the Potential to become Persona users.

"This is Yukari Takeba…"

 **Hakuno's POV, Iwatodai Dorm**

Today was an exciting day: my first real day outside the Yakushima laboratories. Not that I saw all that much, most of the day was just travelling from Yakushima to Iwatodai. But what travelling it was! I have only ever walked from one place to other, or teleported. But today I got to board a ferry and travel by a train. Also, finally got some clothes, even if they were just some generic company working clothes.

Sure, I had to travel with Ikutsuki, but he didn't mind me wandering off on my own. The ferry was a nice experience, something about being able to feel the sea breeze –muted as it was for me- while seeing the endless blue sea and white beaches really stuck a chord in me.

The train on the other hand was a completely different experience. It was just so chock full of people! Different people! Tsukumihara had been full of people too (well, for the preliminaries and the first weeks) but because of the Moon Cell's programming, most of them were dressed in the same brown school uniforms. Only the most skilled magi could customize their appearance.

But here, everyone had their own look. Sure, I 'remember' that that is how it is here in the real world, but I did not actually have memories about it, just a vague sense at the back of my mind. To actually see it in person was beautiful, I think I could've just sat there for the whole ride and stare at the people and I wouldn't have grown bored.

Almost did that too, but I couldn't help myself from striking a conversation after a while. That was actually pretty troublesome, since I didn't really have anything to talk about, besides where people were going. It was very embarrassing when I was asked about movies and music and I couldn't really say anything. And when I relayed my cover story about having a rare non-contagious illness, people tended to avoid me.

It took me a while to realize that even if I said it was non-contagious, people still didn't want to associate me too much. I assume it's a cultural thing.

But I still had fun. Saber too expressed her joy in the back of my mind at the sight of some fashions and music we witnessed.

Not that she could speak of course, but she was a part of my mind and as such I could feel her general emotions. I do not know the reason for her muteness, as I clearly heard her voice when I first summoned her, but I am hoping it is only temporary. Nevertheless, I have summoned her for as long as possible for every Dark Hour since and if nothing else, the summoning process itself has become easier for me, not to mention I can keep her around longer with each summoning.

Activating the Evoker still feels horrible though, but apparently it is necessary, since to summon a Persona, a certain frame of mind is needed. And this frame of mind is being in mortal danger. Hell, I was even shown a human Evoker and the thing is shaped like a gun, meaning the summoner has to look down the barrel and shoot themselves to use it. This is messed up, but apparently it is the only way.

On a lighter note, I now have my own room with a lock in the door and everything. The décor is a bit bland at the moment, but Mitsuru promised me I can make the room more me.

Not that that requires much, my private room in Tsukumihara had in the end a very little furniture. Just a lot of classroom desks, a red curtain and whatever Taiga gave me for helping her out during the War.

So, my course is clear: tomorrow I will go out and buy red curtains for my room. The rest I will gather as I find something suitable. I can't wait to go to a real store, the Tsukumihara Commissary has been my only real experience on the subject, but as far as my amnesiac mind can tell, it was far from ordinary.

Tomorrow will be fun.

As I gaze out the window in my room –despite being on the third floor, the view is not that great, thanks to the block being full of tall buildings- I see a car stop in front of the dormitory and a young man exits the vehicle.

I activate one of my enhanced vision modes briefly to get a confirmation –and yes, it looks like this is Akihiko Sanada, the other member of S.E.E.S. I should go and greet him, I believe Mitsuru is waiting for him in the lobby already.

"Ah, Kishinami. Perfect timing," Mitsuru greets me as I descend the stairs into the spacious lobby. She's seated comfortably on one of the armchairs near the door, with her back against the wall and I winced a little internally. She reminded me of Rin Tohsaka: mature, smart and cold at first sight. Well, I was pretty sure about the latter, as despite the aloof image she presented, she had cared about my feelings when I wanted to cook. But because of that, looking at her brought in mind memories of my dead friend.

She was not Rin Tohsaka, I could ignore the similiarities.

"I saw him get out of the car and thought I should introduce myself," I explain and walk to the white-haired youth who is recording his arrival on the dorm computer, "good evening."

"Evening. So you're the robot girl, huh? Praetor?" he greeted me back. He had a black eye and a few Band-Aids stuck to his face. Mitsuru did mention he had a boxing match or something today.

"Yes, I am the 7th generation ASW Model Praetor, but please, refer to me as Hakuno Kishinami as it is the name I will be using in school," I introduce myself, words rolling naturally out of my mouth. I don't really remember when I began thinking of myself as an ASW, but denying it would do me no good.

"Kishinami? Well, if that's what you want," he shrugs off my explanation, "I'm Akihiko Sanada. You don't look that tough, but you probably have some surprises, right? Anyway, it's good to have you here in S.E.E.S. we really need more combat power for the team."

"So I have been told, and worry not for Saber and I are a strong team."

"Saber? Is that your Persona?" Akihiko asks, but before I can answer, Mitsuru cuts me off:

"It is. Did you not read her dossier? I'm sure I gave you a copy Akihiko."

"Ehh, you did yes. I just didn't have the time to read the whole thing what with the boxing club and all," Akihiko tries to explain nervously.

"Excuses, you had plenty of time," Mitsuru dismisses him with a frosty glare, "Akihiko, you should take this seriously. Kishinami's joining means a lot to S.E.E.S. as if the newest potential is good, we have enough members to send a small group to explore Tartarus in relative safety."

"Yes Mitsuru. I'll read the file first thing when I'm back in my room, really."

"You better," Mitsuru gives him one last stern look before turning to me, "As for you, Kishinami. You did look through Takeba's file right?"

"I did."

"Good. We will be observing her for the next week, maybe two and try to assess if she has the potential. I believe your sensory abilities will be of use at this, since Takeba's dorm does not have a Dark Hour proof surveillance system." And the on here is? Of course it is, she did tell me that everything here is linked to a Plume somewhere, I'll have to do something to the cameras in my room too. Maybe cover them with the curtain?

"That is doable. If there is nothing else, then?" I ask. It is starting to get late and still haven't checked all those boxes in my room.

"Actually, there is. The chairman left a while ago and he left some papers concerning your enrollment on the table," Mitsuru pointed at the kitchen table and I spy the brown folder she must mean. Oh, the torment I went through for this. I had thought I had passed all the tests two weeks ago when I did the combat tests with Saber, but that was when the true ordeal began: my placement tests for school.

While my general knowledge had been tested in the initial tests, these had been much more complicated and were meant to gauge in what year I should be placed in school.

Turned out, I was a bit behind the second year curriculum, so I had spent a considerable time getting remedial lessons from Airi –the Kirijo scientist who had been with me when I met Takeharu for the first time- so I could begin my schooling with the other second years in April.

It had been hell.

"Besides that, there is only one thing left. I could have done it earlier, but I wanted to do this when Akihiko was present," Mitsuru continued as I snatched the folder. When I turned to her, she offered me a red piece of cloth.

"Hakuno Kishinami, welcome to the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad." It was an armband, with S.E.E.S. written on it.

I accept the armband gracefully. Despite myself, I can't help the small smile I feel on my lips.


	5. Chapter 2: SEES

Author's notes: Hello everybody, my apologies for the wait but this chapter was hard to write. My thanks to all who reviewed, its always fun to get encouragement. Now here's answers to some guestions:

Alstitch and drmonicblood: Sorry, but no schedule for me. I write when I write and upload it when its ready. Bunch of updates was only because that was everything I had written in two months.

Thepingman: No I did not replace Aigis, she will join SEES pretty much at the same time as in canon.

End notes.

Many thanks to Nitewind for betaing!

 **Chapter 2 S.E.E.S.**

 **14.3.2009**  
 **Hakuno's POV, Paulownia Mall**

As we leave the Paulownia Mall police station, I can't help but voice my thoughts.

"So, why exactly do we have to buy our equipment from Officer Kurosawa? "

"Mitsuru explained it to me when I joined but that was years ago, so I don't remember it anymore," Akihiko Sanada shrugs, "but I trust her judgement."

"Very well then. Is that all I should know?" I inquire and look around the Paulownia Mall Fountain Square. Akihiko sits on a bench next to the water fountain and leans back. He's probably tired, he had woken up before me and gone out for a run before escorting me here on Mitsuru's order to show me the supplier of S.E.E.S. a policeman dealing some equipment under the desk. I take a seat next to him.

"Well, there is the Shinshoudo Antiques over there," Akihiko points at a store nearby, "but it's closed for now. The owner is aware of Personas and sells some specialized gear, although it tends to be expensive."

"Specialized gear?" I ask with a frown. _Shouldn't the Kirijo Group be taking care of that? Are they really sponsoring S.E.E.S. when we have to buy everything from others?_

"Mainly spell gems, you know, those jewels that can be used as one-off spells in a pinch?" Akihiko explains and I indeed remember reading something about those. They were essentially grenades that unleashed a spell when they went off. Naturally, they were only usable by Persona users.

"Sometimes Shadows drop them, but its easier to buy them from Shinshoudo, especially if you want certain elements, like this Garu gem," Akihiko takes a small, coin sized green stone from his pocket and offers it to me.

"Do you always carry one on you?" I ask Akihiko while taking the offered gem. According to the dossier I read, he was more of a physical fighter with a bit of a one-track mind. Having a backup weapon like this didn't really fit his style.

"Mitsuru's orders. I like to patrol alone every now and then, so Mitsuru wanted me to always keep one on my person in case I run into a Shadow that is a bad matchup for Polydeuces."

"That seems reasonable. I take it Mitsuru carries some too?"

"Of course. We have a small stash of these in the Command Room safe. But didn't Mitsuru go over these with you yesterday? I'm surprised she didn't give you one to carry already." Mitsuru did give me the tour of the dorm yesterday, but I don't think there was talk about these–oh wait. She did mention that there were weapons in the command room. She probably meant these.

"She did mention there were weapons in the Command room, though not what they were. Maybe she thought I was already armed enough?" I raise my right hand and wiggle the fingers experimentally. With just a thought I could lock the pointer finger to form a classic finger gun, except that I could shoot real bullets from a small magazine in my wrist. It was barely half a dozen shots in this concealed mode, but I had extended magazines prepared in my room for combat operations.

"Probably. Or she just forgot, what with her excitement about your joining and examining you Persona."

"She didn't really seem that excited to me," I frown while handing him back the gem.

"Mitsuru's a bit hard to read when you don't know her. Also when you do know her, but when she practically shoved the updated report on your Persona in my face this morning, I dared to make a guess," Akihiko smiles jokingly and pockets the gem, "I take it the only real news was that it had a resistance to fire and that its Arcana was the Empress?"

"No, I don't think there was more information besides that." The Dark Hour yesterday had been a… tense affair for me. The moment the Hour began, Mitsuru had pulled a gun and shot herself in the temple without an ounce of hesitation.

Honestly, the only reason I didn't just lock up in a shock over the almost enthusiasm she performed the summoning with was that the appearance of Penthesilea triggered a reflex I didn't know I had developed.

I am sure I didn't consciously activate the Evoker program then.

Anyway, almost the moment the nearly three meter tall armored Persona had appeared, Saber had taken a position between me and her. As if we were facing an enemy Master and Servant again.

I'm… not really sure what I should think about the fact that it felt comforting. I mean, having Saber around was always comforting, even if she couldn't talk and was a lot more subdued than she was in Moon Cell. But somehow having her stand between me and a danger was even more so… But I don't want to feel comfortable when facing an enemy. And Mitsuru wasn't even an enemy.

Luckily, the redhead hadn't noticed anything weird in my reaction and focused on examining Saber, giving extra attention to the Aestus Estus. She had been curious about the Noble Phantasm, as the ability to have the sword burst into flames was unique at the moment. The closest thing to it was how Akihiko's Polydeuces channeled magic through his prosthetic arm, well spike.

Nonetheless, I had spent the rest of the Hour showing off Saber's powers and twitching nervously inside every time Penthesilea was called upon. The queen of Amazons would have been an intimidating sight even without the size difference, but it had been mainly my own reflexes from the Grail War acting up.

At least Mitsuru hadn't noticed anything weird in my behavior.

"I knew it," Akihiko's answer pulls me back to reality, "Well, I'm going to go and continue my training soon. What are you going to do?"

"I'm just going to familiarize myself with the city a little, maybe do some shopping. I don't think Mitsuru had any need for me today?"

"No. Takeba's class is still on a skiing trip for the next week so there is no hurry on that front. We might go for a Shadow hunt tonight to see how you fight but the day should be free. I'll see you later then," Akihiko waves me goodbye and heads for the mall's exit. I wave back and soon I'm left all alone in the mall.

Well, there are some early shoppers going around but no one I know.

Actually, you could almost say there is nothing I know. Intellectually I know what a mall is, but being here just feels weird. There are so many shops and with such different focuses.

The only point of familiarity I have for something like this is the Tsukumihara Commissary, and there is really no comparison with the two. The Commissary was a single cafeteria style counter with a single NPC waiting that sold literally anything from swords to music boxes. Even more if you were skilled enough to hack the stock like Rin.

The Paulownia Mall is… about the size of Tsukumihara Academy itself. Maybe larger.

And all this is dedicated to shopping, be it buying items or services.

The sheer scale felt overwhelming, but also kind of intriguing.

Tsukumihara Commissary was a simulation, its wares were just physical representations of programs. While everything there was perfect, it had a subtle flavor of wrongness, a sense of artificiality. Saber remarked on it a few times, although her experiences in shopping were probably far from normal. I, naturally, had no experience at all.

But that is about to change.

I pat the pockets of my Kirijo Group company jacket to check that my wallet is still there. _It's time to get some real clothes and furnish that storage space of a room of mine._

 **Mitsuru's POV, Iwatodai Dorm**

Today had gone terribly slowly. I had tried to distract myself with work and while I did get a good chunk of it done, I caught myself constantly checking the clock for time.

It was irritating.

I even considered taking a quick drive around the port city on my motorcycle, but managed to hold back the urge by focusing on Takeba's files. I'm starting to get a read on her character, I'm pretty sure that if she has the Potential for a Persona, I can tailor her an offer she cannot refuse. But I placed that offer on reserve now, it won't be relevant for a while as the next few days will focus on our new addition.

The 7th generation Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon Praetor and her Persona, Saber.

While Praetor's-I mean Hakuno's, abilities were well established and recorded, her diminutive Persona's abilities were more unknown territory. I had scanned it last night during the Dark Hour to find out more.

To my, expected, disappointment very little new information had been revealed.

Saber was a physical Persona that belonged in the Empress Arcana, much like my Penthesilea. Unlike mine though, Saber was resistant to fire-type attacks and didn't have weaknesses.

Combined with its high physical power, it really was the ideal frontline fighter I have envisioned.

But the real test would be tonight. We would see if Hakuno could really accompany her Persona to the frontlines without maiming herself. It will be difficult if she has to be repaired after every battle, even if the damage is minimal. That in mind, Ikutsuki spoke of getting some replacement limbs and emergency repair kits in the Dorm. Hakuno has a tutorial program for maintenance and repair, so she can instruct us on repairing her during the Dark Hour, but as neither I nor Akihiko are engineers, we should leave that to emergency situations only. Ikutsuki could also do repairs on her during the Dark Hour, but I doubt he would be comfortable entering Tartarus, even if it was just the entrance.

Not that we would go much further in either, at least not today. We had gone in a few floors with Shinjiro before, but that was after we had developed good teamwork skills and even then all those operations had been tense affairs.

So, tonight we would restrict ourselves to only the first floor and, depending on time, do a patrol around the city. It would be a good test run.

Checking the clock one more time, I pick up the sports bag carrying my equipment and head downstairs. Knowing Akihiko, he was already there and itching for a fight. Hakuno on the other hand… as a machine I expect her to be punctual, but her character had already surprised me. According to Akihiko she had planned to spend the day shopping, and I've heard some stories about normal high school girl's shopping trips.

On the other hand, how do those stories relate to a half-a-month old combat gynoid? I really can't imagine her fussing over dresses or such. But she does have an eye for art… maybe I shouldn't think this too much. If she can't keep the appointed time, I will have to ensure she will in the future. Simple as that.

Both Hakuno and Akihiko are already waiting in the Dorm lobby. Akihiko is wearing his usual clothes, with a police armored vest bought from Officer Kurosawa under his shirt. It wasn't the best armor for fighting Shadows, but it has been enough for these few years. With the inclusion of Hakuno though we might be conducting more combat operations, so upgrading our equipment might be a good idea. Hakuno, on the other hand, has donned the Gekkoukan High School uniform for some reason.

"There you are Mitsuru. Got everything ready?" Akihiko greets me with a question.

"Naturally," I nod at him, before turning to Hakuno, "That's an odd choice for a fighting wear, Kishinami. Is there some reason for it?"

"Oh, this?" Hakuno beamed, "I have several of these and decided to use one for now." That didn't really answer my question, and I almost say that aloud, but I then decide to just let it be. The clothes didn't hamper her movement, and the pockets would be useful for carrying stuff like spell gems, which reminds me...

"By the way, I have some spell gems for you here. Akihiko told me you talked about them today." I pull a small pouch from my bag and throw it to the gynoid. She fumblingly catches it, before opening it, picking up some gems, and inspecting them carefully.

"Green is Garu. Red is Agi and blue is Bufu. We don't have Zio gems at the moment. Pick some in case we run into something your Saber can't cut."

"I am sure Saber can protect me from anything, but it is a good idea to prepare for the worst," Hakuno declares with confidence and picks several gems from the bag, mainly Bufu's and some Garu's. As expected from a tactically minded warrior, she picked elements she can't produce herself, though she takes a bit more than I expected.

Wait, there was something about that in her files right? That she didn't hesitate to use items if an opportunity presented itself?

"Use them sparingly, we don't have too many of them," I remind her just to be on the safe side. She nods before giving the deflated pouch bag back to me.

"I won't waste them."

"Good. Akihiko, what about our other items?"

"Packed right here: First aid kits, painkillers…" he glances at Hakuno, "toolbox, and some refreshments. I take it you are not going to take your bike?"

"Yes. Not only can Hakuno can substitute most of the equipment it has, it would also be reckless to send just the two of you in. The first floors we will be exploring are the ones we have most information about, so we probably won't run into unknown Shadows that I would need to scan," I explain, "then, if everyone is ready, we should get going, so we can catch the late night train to the Port Island," I declare and move to the door.

"Heh, It's been too long since our last excursion," Akihiko smiles and throws his own bag over his shoulder before following me. Hakuno too picks up a small bag containing mainly extra magazines for her gun.

 **Tartarus**

The Tartarus entrance was as it always was a grand, but empty hall with the exception of the strange defunct machine in the corner and the grand staircase leading to the clock themed door to the first floor of the dark tower. A blue velvet carpet covers the path from the door and up the stairs.

A picture forms in my mind, a picture of a man in a dark suit falling on his knees, screaming and holding his head as a Shadow appears from nowhere devour him.

I brush the memory off with practiced ease. It doesn't matter now. Persona users like us are immune.

Hakuno, on the other hand, seems a bit nervous, though oddly enough the alert manner she scans (maybe literally) the surroundings seems well practiced and natural. I guess that's because this is literally what she was built for. I have to admit I did have some doubts concerning that, what with her weird behavior. Well, weird for a humanoid tactical weapon.

Like how she wanted to summon her Persona so 'she could see Tartarus' growing.'

I, of course, prohibited her from doing that, as it would be waste of energy to summon her Persona just for a needless thing like that. I mean, in the end Saber is a part of her psyche, not a separate entity. To me and Akihiko, that is obvious. We can feel it every time we summon them, how they are a part of us. Is it different for an artificial person like her? Ah, I shouldn't wonder about things like that now.

Akihiko has already donned his brass knuckles and is stretching excitedly. Preparing for a fight. He shouldn't be looking forward to this so much, but that's just how he is. I have to remember to keep an eye out for him in case he does something reckless.

"Final checks everybody," I remind Hakuno and Akihiko, while checking my own equipment. Rapier is fine and ready, Evoker is loose enough to be easily retrieved but secured enough to not fall off during motion, and my backpack is secured, with the pouch containing the rest of our gems in easy reach.

The single Trafuri gem is in my pocket, where I can use it immediately if that one Shadow approaches. I pointedly ignore the chills traversing my back when the memory of that presence crosses my mind.

Speaking of which, should I warn Hakuno about it?

I'm not sure how it would affect her… As an ASW, would she get scared of a Shadow as strong as Death? Or would she accept it as just another enemy? I can't read her that well…

Probably would be best to not mention it. It appears rarely, so it isn't relevant for now. I'll inform her later, when we are not in Tartarus.

Soon, we are all ready to go in. I've pulled my rapier, though I haven't taken any stance yet and Akihiko has finished his warm up. Hakuno has inserted an extended magazine in her right forearm, just before the wrist. She also has a satchel for more magazines resting against her left hip.

We are ready to ascend.

 **Thebel Block, 3rd person view**

The previous members of S.E.E.S. had all agreed that Thebel block had always had a very ominous atmosphere. The dark green lighting combined with the checkered floor and stark bare walls, with the occasional splotches of blood everywhere, were straight from the horror movies. However, they had all gotten used to it during the occasional operations they had conducted in there, while Hakuno had long ago become too jaded to care. Especially when she remembered that the 'blood' was probably just transmogrified water.

But it still looked ominous.

Since today's excursion was aimed at learning Hakuno's capabilities and possible synergy with the team, Mitsuru had had her take the point, although with her sensors extended so she would get a warning in advance before encountering anything.

Mitsuru was keeping the rear, making sure they weren't ambushed from behind.

Akihiko was in the middle, ready to dash where he was needed at the first sign of an enemy.

They moved carefully through the corridors, with Hakuno carefully checking the corners with her gun before they moved forward. It was slow, but it was also very safe.

Akihiko didn't like it.

"We're moving too slow. We won't even get to the end of the first floor at this rate," he whispered to Mitsuru.

"We could move faster if I summoned Saber," Hakuno protested, not taking her eyes off the dark hallway before her.

"Summoning your Persona at every corner would be pointless. While you won't get tired like a human would, I know constantly re-summoning will deplete your batteries," Mitsuru rebuked. While she too wasn't happy at the slow pace, she thought it was acceptable in order to keep the small team safe.

"You overestimate the drain. I can keep Saber around for almost half an hour before dismissing her to recover my willpower."

"That may be true when you're just at the lab doing some testing. Using a Persona in combat is exhausting, we've been doing this for years and we can do only short bursts."

"Give her a chance Mitsuru. She's built for this," Akihiko tried to support Hakuno, causing her to wince, not that the two humans behind her noticed it.

"She can keep Saber summoned after the first battle, if she thinks she can," Mitsuru relented, returning to watching the shadows. Hakuno cheered internally at that, happy that she could finally summon her friend again. Akihiko knew it would be the best he could get and focused on staying ready.

Hakuno felt a bit nostalgic. Here she was again, stalking through unknown corridors with the occasional monster tucked in. Except that this time she wasn't facing Enemy Programs but Shadows. And this time, she was expected to fight the enemy herself, with a gun.

It would be a novel experience.

Once it happened that is. And even then, she planned on sicking Saber at the things as soon as possible.

As she approached another crossroad, Hakuno opened her mouth and let loose a low-frequency sonar wave. It wasn't very strong, it's radius was barely near ten meters, but it could give her an estimate of what was behind the corner. Soon, lines representing the walls appeared in the unexplored part of her minimap display as a deciphering program processed the results of the sonar.

Besides walls, the echolocation also painted three figures in the middle of the hallway on her right.

Shadows.

Hakuno raised her left hand to signal the others about their presence. She could practically feel Akihiko's attention focus on her. Not wanting to speak and possibly warn the Shadows of their presence, Hakuno raised three fingers in her offhand and gestured to the right with her finger gun. Then she glanced once more at the minimap to verify that the three were the only ones in the intersection, and summoned Saber.

With a crack of glass, the red clad woman appeared and took a battle stance in front of Hakuno.

Then, Saber charged the corner, Hakuno hot on her heels.

And it was over in an instant.

The Shadows had been clustered enough for Saber to cleave two of them apart with a single overhand chop of Aestus Estus, the red and black blade splitting their masked heads easily. The third one fared hardly any better as Saber smoothly turned on her leading foot to deliver a crushing axe kick into the Shadows blue mask.

It also flashed Hakuno momentarily, but it was a kind of a moot point considering her transparent dress and that Hakuno was focused on the underwhelming enemy.

The Shadows were already disintegrating when Akihiko turned the corner.

"Whoa," he exclaimed as he watched the puddle like bodies of the Cowardly Mayas disappear.

"That was easier than I expected," Hakuno admitted, staring at the one Saber had crushed under her armored boot.

"What happened?" Mitsuru asked as she ran onto the scene.

"Looks like Saber packs a little more punch than we expected," Akihiko admitted, watching the smallest Persona he had ever seen return to its mistress' side, "she crushed three Cowardly Mayas with just two moves!"

"Three?" Mitsuru asked, a bit taken back by the feat. Sure, Cowardly Mayas were the weakest Shadows she had seen, everyone in S.E.E.S. could fight them without trouble, but that was still extremely fast, especially without magic and in their first fight with Shadows.

 _Praetor really is a weapon, no matter her eccentrities._

 _With this kind of power exploring Tartarus will be a lot easier…_ Mitsuru thought with a grin, _but we should test them more. Wonder if we could find one of those beetle shaped Shadows, they were pretty tough._

"As promised earlier, I will be keeping Saber around for now," Hakuno declared and looked at Mitsuru, who just nodded.

"Do as you will, but you will dismiss her before you tire out."

"Can I take the point now? I think her combat ability is proven enough," Akihiko interjected. He still hadn't gotten to fight anything!


	6. Chapter 3: Ruminations

Whoops, sorry for the wait. My thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, and to that one accountless reviewer, I'm going to say that you are underestimating the Reaper a bit. I haven't completely made up my mind about the power levels, but I'm saying it now that Saber won't just curbstomp everything. I'm not good enough of a writer to keep this fic interesting with just the character interactions, so there will be tough battles ahead too.

Many thanks to nitewind for beta work.

 **Chapter 3**

 **Thebel Block, Hakuno's POV**

"I still have about 28% charge left," I inform Mitsuru while scanning the bloody stairway before us. We had sped up our exploration after the first fight (mainly because I had finally gotten permission to keep Saber summoned) and had actually cleared the first floor of Tartarus in what Akihiko had called a record time. Bolstered by our success, he had then managed to convince Mitsuru to take this expedition further.

All the way to the third floor.

It had gone very smoothly, the Shadows were nothing compared to even the Enemy Programs at the final levels of the Chimeric Lunar Sea, let alone Servants. And Saber was the strongest Servant.

The Shadows hadn't even scratched us –any of us- yet.

I had really worried too much about this.

"Almost down to a fourth huh…" Akihiko mutters with exasperated awe. Exasperated because Saber had annihilated nine out of every ten Shadows we had run into, and that was only because they weren't always grouped. Awe, because of the aforementioned slaughter.

"For essentially soloing three floors and keeping a Persona constantly manifested for that long, it's quite the bargain." Mitsuru muses, "Still, its about time we bring this excursion to an end and look for an Access Point."

Access Points were a confusing feature of Tartarus' floors. They were spread around Tartarus at random, sometimes multiple ones on a single floor, sometimes none and they worked as one-way portals to a larger Point at the entrance. According to Mitsuru they were unknown technology and they had no idea why or how they existed. And they were apparently indestructible, as they hadn't had any luck taking apart or even analyzing the one at the entrance. It didn't help that even if people were made able to function during the Dark Hour, they were still easy prey for Shadows.

"Wasn't there one on the second floor? Do we backtrack or go forward?" I ask and let out a sonar pulse, checking the stairway for Shadows. How would a Maya even move on those? Would they just flow down like liquid or would they hold together? Their bodies were pretty malleable, or maybe that was just Saber's strength.

"I vote we go forward," Akihiko declares instantly, to the surprise of no-one.

"That is a bit risky…" Mitsuru shoots him down and I appreciate her sentiment, as we are not in a hurry here. We can continue exploring some other day, we're not on a schedule here. Then she continues:

"But I believe we could do that this time. There is still good twenty minutes left, and we are both fresh enough to take over if Kishinami overexerts herself."

…And it seems I underestimated how much she wants to do this. Well, I guess we go forward then.

"But Kishinami, you should preserve your power unless it seems we are running out of time," Mitsuru adds as we begin climbing, with Saber leading the way.

This again? What does she have against me keeping Saber at my side?

"But that would slow us down again. What if there is no Access Point in the next floor?"

"We don't slow down. As I said, Akihiko and I are still fresh. If it's just one floor, we can cut loose with impunity with your support. Besides, it will be a useful to see what you can do without your Persona."

Why would she need to see that?

"Why? Personas are the main weapon against Shadows. I could be a battle tank and I wouldn't be as useful against them as Saber." For a moment I think about mentioning that I'm not confident enough on my footing to fight in a battle myself. It was even true, while I had no trouble walking or even running, my fast movement was limited to going straight or else I would take a tumble from trying to balance on a body part I didn't have. In the end, however, I leave it unsaid, because with a gun as my weapon there really is no need for me to be able to be very nimble. Especially if I have two melee fighters protecting me.

"But its costly. Clearly, Saber is ridiculously strong Persona, but that doesn't mean you should waste your energy. These Shadows are weak but there are many of them. If you tire yourself on them, you'll be in trouble with the bigger ones." This is starting to get irritating. Of course I know the importance of saving your energy for the real battles, I've done that before. With Saber. We're a team.

But there is a hardline for Saber now. I focus on the charge icon on my HUD. If this drags on, it… is possible I won't be able to summon Saber when I need her.

Mitsuru has a point.

I'll… just call Saber when I need her. To fight I mean. Its just a slight delay, these Shadows can do nothing in that timeframe. It's no real danger. They are not Servants.

"Understood", I tell Mitsuru through clenched teeth and focus on the vanishing form of Saber. She gives me a comforting smile and a nod as she disappears.

Right. I can do this.

 **3rd person POV**

It didn't take long for S.E.E.S. to run into a pack of Shadows on the new floor. They oozed into a large room with a curious stone arch in the middle at about the same time Akihiko entered from the other end. He reacted quickly, running towards them with a shouted warning to the others. Mitsuru reacted immediately, drawing out her Evoker with one hand and dashing after Akihiko at more sedate pace. Hakuno followed suit, her handgun ready to shoot but pointed towards the ground for now.

As Akihiko neared the Shadows – six Mayas, four of them with blue masks and the rest wearing red ones, he smoothly pulled his Evoker from its holster, aiming the silver barrel into his eye. A pragmatic sort would probably chew him out for obscuring his own vision when attacking an enemy, but to Akihiko it was necessary, as he just couldn't pull off the mindset required to summon a Persona if it didn't get in his face.

Glass cracked and the towering form of Polydeuces manifested behind Akihiko, its arm spike crackling with lightning from a Zio spell and already pointed at Akihiko's chosen target, a red masked Maya furthest away from him. As the bolt of lightning stuck forth eliciting a pained roar from the puddle like Shadow, Akihiko himself nudged his rush so that he ran past the first Shadows, evading their grasping claws by a hair and drawing them after him, leaving their backs open for Mitsuru.

It was one of the tried and true tactics the two had refined during their years of operations, this one being reserved for when they could give it their all.

A flash of pink light informed Akihiko that Mitsuru had joined the battle, prompting him to go for his Evoker again to keep the Shadows focused on him. Polydeuces appeared again, this time hammering a Maya into the ground and swiping at the others with its armspike, then disappearing before they could strike back, taking advantage of how the Shadows didn't differentiate between a Persona and its user to get them to focus on him again.

Well with the exception of the two that started to fight each other as Mitsuru's magic messed with one's mind, causing it to attack its kind. Akihiko always found himself smiling at that. The ability to make Shadows fight each other had saved them countless times before.

Still, the deciding factor had always been physical prowess, and that was Akihiko's specialty, be it punching one in the face or just keeping away from them. Like he was doing now. He didn't like it, but it was the best he could do against multiple Mayas, considering his fighting style.

Boxing wasn't really that useful against something that barely came up to his kneecaps, not counting the grasping arms, the direction of the punch was awkward and while it was easier to put his body weight behind the blows, his return was slow. And slowing down was out of the question for him.

So for now, he had to just 'enjoy' the sensation of summoning Polydeuces to do the fighting for him.

"Finish them off, Kishinami!" Mitsuru ordered Hakuno and moved to assist Akihiko, trusting that the ASW could defeat two wounded Shadows with just her gun –or if situation got really bad, just use her Persona to maim every Shadow in the room- while she and Akihiko killed the remaining four.

That suited Hakuno fine, seeing how this was her first hands-on fight, the first fight where she really held the weapon and not just given the command. Much to her shame, she had entertained the thought a few times during the Grail War, after all that was what Julius had done with great success. In the end, she hadn't had the heart for it then, and she didn't think she had it now.

So it was a good thing her opponents weren't anything close to human.

The moment the Cowardly Mayas seemed to stop tearing into each other, Hakuno struck hard.

Two green gems were flung from her hand, aimed between the two wounded Shadows trying to catch their bearings. The Garu gems burst violently, releasing an explosive burst of visible green tinted wind that splattered the Mayas all over the area, leaving Hakuno blinking at the aftermath. _I… even if that was a weakness, I seem to have underestimated the gem's power_ , she thought as she looked over the slowly disintegrating mess, before focusing back on the fight.

Mitsuru and Akihiko were doing well, Mayas that were not attacking their fellows were noticeably crispy and sluggish. It seemed that after setting the remaining Mayas on each other, the two Persona users had decided to just bombard them with impunity.

After one last flash of Zio, the armored form of Penthesilea darted forward, spearing the remaining red masked Merciless Maya on its blade. Mitsuru didn't pay it any attention, instead focusing on checking the team's condition and nodding approvingly at Hakuno's pristine form before commanding them to continue. Hakuno quickly took her place next to Mitsuru while Akihiko took a moment to check the quickly disappearing enemy remains before continuing down the hallway the Mayas had entered.

It took Hakuno another moment to realize what Akihiko had actually been doing, as while she was used to 'dungeon diving' she was also used to the spoils automatically uploading on her portable terminal at the end of a battle. Just one more change she had to remember.

The next group of Shadows they ran into consisted merely of two Muttering Tiaras in a cramped hallway. The disembodied heads were promptly crushed, Akihiko's sudden charge taking them by surprise after which the boxer kept slamming them around, not letting them recover. Hakuno was almost impressed by how he grabbed a Tiara by its crown (revealing that the headdress was a solid part of the Shadow's body) and repeatedly applied his knee to its face, if the other one hadn't used the time to get off an Agi spell in his general direction, however Mitsuru encased the offending Tiara in a block of ice with a Bufu in retaliation. Luckily Akihiko's wounds weren't bad and Mitsuru could treat them with a simple application of Dia, even if the healing spell wasn't her specialty.

Soon after they ran into the activated Access Point, the small golden machine giving off a slightly lighter shade of green light compared to the Block's normal lighting. After Hakuno checked that there were no Shadows lying in wait nearby, they walked into the teleporter one-by-one, leaving Hakuno for last as she was the most likely to survive a sudden attack even if she were alone.

 **15.3.2009**

 **Iwatodai Dorm, Hakuno's POV**

As I lay down on my 'bed,' I feel myself fill with a certain nostalgia. Exploring Tartarus felt really similar to exploring the Chimeric Lunar Sea in the Moon Cell, what with the endless corridors and empty rooms with the occasional monster here and there. Of course, the Enemy Programs didn't crowd nearly as much as the Shadows seemed to do. And the programs were much stronger than the Shadows, at least what we faced today. Even I could kill one easily with a spell gem, though did that speak of the gems power or the Shadows' weakness? According to my internal database Cowardly Mayas were practically the weakest Shadows recorded, only showing a little power with… magic?

I actually stopped for a little while to review my memories of the fight. I don't think the Mayas used magic even once today, not even during the relatively lengthy battle against Mitsuru and Akihiko. They seemed to prefer swarming the target and then slashing at it with their claws. Should I add my analysis on the Cowardly Maya Information Matrix?

Probably not. Mitsuru made these entries with Penthesilea's sensory ability and she and Akihiko have done this for years, maybe today was the exception, not the norm? But there still isn't any real combat data here… And those two were clearly aware that the Cowardly Mayas would focus on anything that attacked them first, that was their whole battle plan. Why is there no mention of that?

Really, this whole thing was starting to feel… amateurish. I mean maybe they would tell all this to the new recruits at training so that's why they don't put it in the files, but then there was the whole fighting thing too.

Its just… the Shadows were weak. That's a fact, but I don't really think Akihiko and Mitsuru were that much stronger. Polydeuces and Penthesilea too. Polydeuces needed a few shots with Zio to kill anything and Penthesilea didn't really create that much ice with Bufu. And her Marin Karin only hit a single target and didn't last all that long. Although to be fair, just a second's lowered guard was enough to destroy an enemy.

I should know, I've almost died too many times because of it: Dan's Archer, Robin Hood, had especially specialized on it, although Julius's Assassin Li Shuwen had done a good job of it too with his one hit kill Noble Phantasm. Then there was that time Rin and Lancer wrecked the Arena entrance with their trap. Oh, and let's not forget the mad chase for the Alices in their Reality Marble.

But that was because they had the power to do that. Clearly, Polydeuces and Penthesilea lack that power. As do their Masters, which is really troubling, considering how they actually fought the Shadows by themselves.

And wasn't that just a ridiculous notion? I mean in hindsight I should've realized, there are so many hints everywhere, but I just rationalized them away.

Personas are not "weapons" like Servants. They are supposed to be more like Noble Phantasms, trump cards to be called upon when your own power is not enough. That was the big deal with me trying to keep Saber manifested, what I was doing was like if Shinji had had Rider ferry him around Tsukumihara on the Golden Hind! This really is different from the Grail War. _I'm really glad about that._

So now, in the name of saving my batteries, Mitsuru is having me learn how to fight by myself. Not really a daunting task, thanks to ASW combat programming. Using my gun is literally just point-and-shoot and although I have to aim myself, the process is laughably easy with my HUD calculating the trajectories. The rest is just trying to not get killed, which I already have excessive experience with.

Well, excessive when compared to Akihiko and Mitsuru at least. Or maybe not, those two have years of experience compared to my month. Except that my experience is with legendary her- Oh. Oh!

Maybe that's why everything seems so weak and unimpressive to me? I've been spoilt by the high level of the Grail War. Of course Akihiko would seem slow and clumsy when I'm comparing him to someone whose transcendent skill made a second strike needless. Of course Mitsuru's swordsmanship seemed lacking when compared to a Knight of the Round Table. Only the Masters were normal humans and they too were usually geniuses of some sort or other masters of their craft.

Thinking it like that, as a facsimile of an average human being I would have stood out a lot even if I wasn't an amnesiac back then.

Suddenly an annoyed presence makes itself known, originating from somewhere in my mind. Ah, I think I annoyed Saber with that last thought. However, the feeling fades quickly and is replaced by enveloping warmth. I think she's telling me to go to sleep already. Well, it's not like I'm in a hurry anyway, and if I close my eyes, it's a bit like Saber is here with me.


	7. Chapter 4: I Spy

Author's notes: Hello, just here to upload a new chapter, don't mind me. I've also tried to cut down on waiting time on my replies by PMing to reviewers and leave the Author's notes to larger things. Like the promise that in the future Nero will be appearing in this fic in all her glory.

 **Chapter 4 I Spy**

 **19.3.2009  
Iwatodai Sports Center, 3rd POV  
**

Hakuno screamed mentally while throwing herself backwards to avoid a hit to her stomach. However, as she tried to balance the wild motion by bringing her other leg behind her, the lack of feet caused her leg to keep going and dropped Hakuno to the ground in what would have been a painful split to a human, but was just an uncomfortable move to an ASW. Her opponent wasn't surprised for long by the unplanned move, however, and turned the punch into a tackle, prompting the flailing gynoid to roll to safety.

Mitsuru, who was observing the spar from afar, found the ensuing chase scene giggle worthy, though she kept that thought private. _Hmph, maybe now she'll think twice before wasting Garu gems on half-dead Mayas_ , she thought with a very slight smile as Kishinami narrowly avoided getting her hair stuck under Akihiko's stomping leg.

Hakuno then finally caught her wits and aimed her paintball gun, a real gun as nobody wanted to change her parts just for a short training bout, at Akihiko and pulled the trigger without actually aiming, causing the boxer to weave out of the way and stop his charge.

Besides the loss of resources caused by Kishinami's liberal use of spell gems, the excursion to Tartarus a few days ago had turned into a quite headache to the young Kirijo heiress. While S.E.E.S. had managed to make clear headway into Tartarus back then, the precise mission objective was left at the wayside as nobody had actually seen Kishinami herself fight. Sure, they had observed clearly how utterly overpowering her Saber was against the Shadows, but the ASW herself had stayed behind her Persona the whole time and quickly resorted to spell gems when her main weapon wasn't available. It irked Mitsuru to think that she had let her own enthusiasm get to her, forgetting the mission objective in favor of what was basically just quick romp to crush Shadows. It didn't even mean anything in the larger scale, as Tartarus changed shape every night, rendering all distance made inside basically worthless. They didn't even have new types of Shadows to be added to the records to show for the night. Mitsuru expected more from herself.

Akihiko found himself in a bit of a pickle. He had vowed to himself that he would get through this whole training session without getting tagged by Hakuno's paintball gun, and while it had begun well, with Akihiko winning the first few bouts, the ASW had then started to show which one of them was the true fighting machine.

Sure, the gynoid had clumsily fallen on the ground again, and the first few shots were just sprayed in his direction with the solitary goal of slowing him down, but the change was becoming more apparent by the second.

The gynoid was _reading_ him. That in itself wasn't a new experience, as a famous figure in the boxing rings he had run into more than his fair share of opponents who had studied his strategies and favored maneuvers. A few of those were even good enough to last against him for a while in the ring. But none of them had ever come to really read him for the simple fact that he didn't really plan that far ahead. Sure he played to his strengths, speed and power, and varied his approach to suit the current enemy, but he mainly went with his instincts and those were really hard to read as there wasn't necessarily anything intelligent behind them.

But somehow Hakuno was reading his actions a few steps ahead. She wasn't always correct, but more often than not she managed to send a bullet in just the right direction to throw Akihiko off his game. _Probably one of her combat protocols. Heh, its like straight out of a manga, I wonder if she's analyzing my muscle movements or just calculating from previous records_ , Akihiko humored an errant thought as he evaded yet another paintball aimed where he was going to dodge.

Hakuno herself was racking her brain trying to think of a way to defeat Akihiko, as she was painfully aware that her gun was running out of ammunition and that robotic strength or no, Akihiko would take her apart in a fistfight, especially since she was already on the ground. At least she now had a good grasp on how Akihiko fought, allowing her to predict his most likely reactions, in battle at least.

Thanks to that, Hakuno noticed when Akihiko made up his mind. _He won't wait, too aggressive, trusts his reflexes to evade the shot, ready to take a hit in exchange for winning_ , Hakuno realized and adjusted her aim just in time to catch the moment when Akihiko's circling movement turned into a straight rush.

The first shot clipped his shoulder, but Akihiko didn't stop and just used the impact of the hit to cock his arm back in preparation for his next strike. Hakuno hesitated for a fraction of a second, her instincts screaming at her to aim at Akihiko's face, before shooting into the boxers chest. However, Akihiko had gotten too close, and after the first shot he slapped the gun barrel away with his offhand before delivering a strong left straight into Hakuno's face, knocking the sitting gynoid flat on her back.

"That's enough for today, team!" Mitsuru chose that moment to interrupt the spar. It would motivate Akihiko to prepare for the next sparring session if this ended with his loss and Kishinami, well Mitsuru still wasn't sure if it was necessary to let her feel good about her progress. With a human Mitsuru would have done it in a heartbeat, morale was important, but she still wasn't sure if it was an issue with the robot. While she acted very humanlike most of the time, like how she got embarrassed when Mitsuru had told her to lose the school uniform for the duration of the spar, but then she became a completely different person when it was time to fight. Mitsuru was sure she had some sort of specifically tailored combat programming that actively changed her personality when it was activated. She certainly hadn't shown the efficiency she had had in Tartarus in daily life, though from what Akihiko had told her, the frivolous use of resources had stayed. Apparently, Hakuno had spent her first whole salary on _curtains_ of all things. Mitsuru admitted they looked nice, were of great quality, and that she wasn't an expert, but spending over 80 000 yen on curtains felt a bit extravagant to her (No, she didn't know how much her own room's furnishings had cost).

Meanwhile, Hakuno was worriedly eying Akihiko's hand. After all, regardless of how he had thrown her about with his punch, Hakuno's body was metal under the synthetic skin. Even with the padded gloves he wore, he might have hurt himself while throwing such a huge punch. However, Akihiko didn't seem to care and offered Hakuno his good hand. Not wanting to seem rude, Hakuno took the offered appendage and while Akihiko was pulling her up, she activated her medical scan and checked his condition. The scanning took a few seconds, which Hakuno spent wobbling on her leg stumps, it always took her a little while to catch her balance after falling like that, but soon she had the results on her HUD that told her that Akihiko's hand was fine.

"Good job you two," Mitsuru began before addressing Akihiko, "I know this training is mainly aimed to help Kishinami, but I hope you are also learning something from this."

"I am. She's visibly improving with each bout," Akihiko confirmed, "It would be a blow against my pride if I just watched her shoot past me." Both Hakuno and Mitsuru noticed that he didn't specify how he was going to accomplish that. Mitsuru suspected it would involve copious amounts of protein.

"As long as that is clear. And Hakuno? I may have a few sessions with you too at some point," Mitsuru added, "But, now the Sports center's private meeting room is prepared for us for the next few hours. We will need to discuss and prepare for next week's operations. Akihiko, take a shower and meet us in there." Akihiko nodded in understanding before heading to the dressing rooms. Hakuno too, excused herself so she could pick up her school uniform. And double check from a mirror her HUD's report that she was fine, as Akihiko had punched her with all his weight behind it and she didn't completely trust the HUD to inform her of cosmetic damages.

 **Iwatodai Sports Center**

 **Hakuno's POV**

"As you all know," Mitsuru directs a short glare at Akihiko, but judging from his confident expression he has read the files this time and Mitsuru seems to realize it too, so she continues, "Yukari Takeba will return from her class's skiing trip this Sunday. While normally we would arrange a meeting with her which just happens to coincide with the Dark Hour to reveal her Potential, the chairman has come to me with an alternative plan enabled by Kishinami's joining." Mitsuru then uses the video projector, a far cry from the old film reel version that Julius used to spy people in Tsukumihara, to show us a building blueprint. The numerous identical rooms next to each other with communal bathrooms and a kitchen reveal it to be a dorm, although much larger than the Iwatodai Dorm S.E.E.S. uses. One room on the second floor is highlighted in red.

"This is Takeba's room at the Gekkoukan Female Dormitory. Since Takeba herself is away, the chairman proposed we simply smuggle a spy camera into her room during the Dark Hour tonight and use that to make certain whether she Transmogrifies or not." Wait, what?

"That simple? Remind me why haven't we done this before?" Akihiko asks with a smile on his face. Am I the only one bothered by this?

"A normal camera wouldn't work during the Dark Hour. But now we can just hook the camera into Kishinami and she can power it from her Plume. The plan is to transfer Kishinami to the Dormitory for this weekend with the cover story that as a new student, she is checking out the Dormitories. There is an empty room above Takeba's where she can pretend to 'spend the night' while she uses the camera." Out of the corner of my eye, I register another room now highlighted in blue, but I ignore it and focus on the essentials everybody else seems to ignore.

"Just wait a second!" I stand up from my seat, "You want me to spy her in her room? That… That's just _wrong_. And illegal." Well, that last bit didn't actually bother me that much. Spying on someone was probably the least lawbreaking thing I've done, and the real world was a lot laxer about this kind of thing compared to the Moon Cell.

But spying her in her Room, just… felt hundred, no, million kinds of wrong. I mean your Room is your sanctuary. The one place where you don't have to keep your guard up, where only you and your Servant can enter. Where you are safe, where you can talk freely without fearing you accidentally drop a name that reveals all your weaknesses to people who want to kill you. And they want me to just violate that sacred place?! I knew they were already violating that trust with the cameras in my room, but I knew that and they too must have known that. And they still let me cover the cameras with curtains and the mics with duct tape.

"I admit it is a bit… underhanded and a violation of privacy. A few years ago I too wouldn't have thought of doing something like this," Mitsuru confesses while looking me resolutely in the eyes, "But looking at the growing amount of Apathy Syndrome cases, I also see that something has to be done about the Shadows. That's why I believe that doing this is necessary. We need more Persona users and according to the chairman, Takeba has a lot of promise."

"I get that, its why I'm here after all. But going so far as breaking into her room to spy on her is too much to just ascertain her potential. Is there no other way? Like scanning her with either a regular scanner or with Penthesilea."

"We do have equipment to detect people with Potential, but the mobile equipment is far too imprecise to determine anything beyond if the target has Potential or not. The bigger machine that can detect dormant Personas on the other hand, cannot be moved. We would have to bring her to the lab and making a cover story for that is too complicated to be feasible," Mitsuru responds in a practiced manner, maybe this is an old argument? but then she stops to consider for a moment, "Using Penthesilea's scans on the other hand… It might work, as Personas are a part of their users so if the Persona has a special quirk like elemental resistance, then its influence can be detected in the user too. Although the effect will be considerably lesser if the Persona hasn't manifested before, but don't you have some sort of built-in amplifier for Penthesilea's sensory ability?"

"Yes I do. During my initial tests it activated without problems, but we couldn't actually test its functionality as it is completely useless by itself," I confirm and take a seat again. This is starting to look good, but I'm not out of the woods yet. It's a smaller evil, to just briefly touch Yukari with Penthesilea's mind while she was in her room, but it was still an affront to me.

But what can I say here…? They want to know if Yukari has a Persona and to find that, she must be scanned during the Dark Hour, which means at midnight so she is most likely going to be in her room at that time. Except that she is now on a skiing trip with her class. We could intercept her there, but how could I convince Mitsuru to do it? Being in an unfamiliar environment affects mood so might it affect Potential too? No, while mood might affect one's Potential, it isn't that drastic of an effect. And people tend to be more on guard in foreign environment so I can't say that the chance we're caught is less, not to mention that getting caught is almost impossible if we use Penthesilea.

There is no other option, she has to be scanned within the Dormitory. Maybe I can lure her out of her room just before the Dark Hour begins.

"We'll test that amplifier tonight then. If it works, we'll return the spy camera back to the Chairman and transfer you to the Dormitory for the weekend," Mitsuru takes my silence as acceptance. That's fine, today's a Thursday so I'll have a few days to plan how to do this.

"Guess I won't be needed then?" Akihiko asks, though he doesn't look disappointed.

"No, you need stay ready nearby. While it would be suspicious for you to enter the Female Dormitory during the day, we might need you during the operation itself," Mitsuru instructs him. Akihiko frowns uncharacteristically in response, but clearly accepts the order.

"In the worst case scenario, Takeba might be awake during the Dark Hour and try to exit the building before we can scan her. Roaming Shadows might also be a threat," Mitsuru elaborates, it seems she too noticed Akihiko's odd reluctance. Surprisingly, the possibility of action doesn't seem to placate him. Did I misjudge him?

"Is something wrong Akihiko?" I question him in turn. Akihiko seems to catch himself then and blushes in embarrassment.

"Not really no…" he scratches the back of his neck, "Its just that me and the female students don't really get along." That's kind of surprising. He's no Leo Harway, then again, who is, but after knowing him a few days, I thought he would be more popular than Shinji at least. He is a little aloof so maybe people think he is arrogant or something? But it can't be so bad that he would refuse to go near the Female Dormitory…

"Ah, you mean the Club? I understand," Mitsuru seems to get it, "yes, they might cause a ruckus if they see you near the female dormitory in the evening. We'll think of something." Club? Might cause a ruckus?

"What exactly are we talking about here?" I have to ask, I don't understand at all.

"Oh!" both Akihiko and Mitsuru exclaim before staring at each other intently. Both seem to be confused and… uncertain…?

"T-this… Uh, how to say this?" Akihiko stammers and gives Mitsuru a pleading look. What is this about? Has Akihiko done something bad to them?

"Its-" Mitsuru coughs and looks away, "It is a human thing. Hard to explain to a- I mean what I'm trying to say is that its hard to explain as we don't really understand it either." I feel like she almost said something really rude there.

"The point is, that I'd like to avoid running into those girls as much as possible. The reasons don't really matter," Akihiko, red faced, declares with finality. I frown at them both, but they seem to be adamant about dropping the subject.

"If you say so," I tell them, but I'm already planning on asking the girls at the Dormitory about it.

"Good," Mitsuru composes herself, "in that case, our meeting is done. Kishinami, I will meet you at the Command Room for the test tonight. I'll also try and get some Kirijo employees as test subjects for the scans, but it is likely we'll have to make a do with the Chairman and Akihiko." That's not exactly what I would call a good group for testing, a veteran Persona user and man with artificial Potential, but it would be hard to gather people on short notice like this. Especially since the city is dangerous for people with Potential but no Persona.

With our meeting done, we all headed our own ways. Mitsuru was intercepted by a chauffer at the Sports Center Entrance and Akihiko told me he was headed to a specialist store for some supplements. Normally I would have either gone with him out of the sheer novelty of it or gone window shopping, but in light of today's events I headed straight back to my room to scheme how to catch Yukari outside of her room this weekend. Also, I have to update Akihiko's Information Matrix as I'm clearly missing something about him.


	8. Chapter 5: Making Friends

Author's notes:Hi! Sorry its been a while. Also, this chapter is unbetaed so there is probably some typos ahead.

 **Chapter 5 Making Friends**

 **Friday, 20.3.2009**  
 **Gekkoukan Female Dormitory, Hakuno's POV**

"…and now, as the final piece of the tour of our fine Dormitory, is the room you would be getting, miss Kishinami. It is the same size as everyone else's rooms with a door that can be locked from the inside for privacy, though I do have a master key in my office in case of emergencies," the dorm mother explains patiently as we approach the empty room. It was kind of a drag to go over the orientation for the whole dorm just for this weekend, especially since I had already memorized the blueprints, but I had managed to get some interesting information out of the dorm mother regarding the Dormitory security.

I was worried she might grow suspicious at my questions regarding the dorm security, but I guess she just chalked them up for nervousness at moving to a new environment. Combined with my 'disease', I think she might have gotten a wrong impression of me but since this takes only one weekend I don't think there is any harm in it.

"I'm afraid we have only communal showers at the moment, but if you decide to stay here, I'm sure we can work out a system for reserving a shower room for your use in advance," thanks but I'm going to abstain or at least limit it to Dark Hour in order to minimize the chances of getting caught out of costume. Of course I won't say that aloud, but just thank her for the assistance before saying goodbye. She just smiles and reminds me that the evening meal is in an hour before leaving me to "get comfortable" in my new surroundings. Not that I need to eat but I am equipped fake it.

After double checking that the door was locked, I fell down on my temporary bed. The feeling was surprisingly comfortable, muted though it was through my artificial skin.

Still, it was my first real bed, as in Tsukumihara I had to make a do with just a blanket and the Kirijo Group seemed to be under the impression that all I needed was my charging station. Really, for all they seemed to be surprised how 'humanlike' I am, they really default to thinking of me as a machine as soon as I leave the room. Especially the ones I was in infrequent contact with, like professor Friedemann. He actually sent me an e-mail yesterday. Apparently the creation of my new feet has been put in the backburner for now, as the higher ups (who exactly are those? Takeharu? Shuji?) straight up ordered him to drop my feet and go over all their other scrapped ASW in case they can be revived.

It was unfortunate, but there was nothing I could do about it. Since Shuji was here in Iwatodai, I think they only have professor and his two assistants there. Although they might get some new personnel if they manage to get more ASW's up and running.

 _The thought alone makes me sombre. More ASW's… I… Could they also be from Moon Cell? Would they have been the previous models? But then, did the Moon Cell even really exist? Was that all just a convenient simulation to prepare me for this?_

I should go outside. Try to get some information for Sunday. I quickly get up from the bed and after a quick check that mechanical bits are covered, head out of the door.

The hallway in which my temporary room is located on is deserted, much like the whole building had been during my little tour. The dorm mother had explained that it was because of the holidays; most of the tenants were either visiting their families or on School Club sponsored trips like Yukari. That suits me just fine, no distractions; just empty hallways.

Tastefully decorated hallways. Lower quality than what the Iwatodai Dorm has, Saber would probably call this peasant, with its own homely charm. To me it is a pleasant change to the usual professional settings of school buildings and laboratories. Still, I think Saber's rubbed off on me a little as I do think that the Iwatodai Dorm's slight posh is more my style.

Suddenly I hear a door opening behind me. Well, the dorm mother did say that only most of the students were away, so this must be someone who either stayed over the vacation or arrived early. Maybe I could ask?

The girl that exits neighbouring flat is clearly some sort of athlete; she's dressed in light grey sweatsuit and her hair is done in a sporty ponytail. She seems surprised to see me.

"Hello" I greet her politely.

"Hi?" she asks before collecting herself, "Sorry, I wasn't expecting to run into anyone. Much less a stranger."

"Its nothing. And I am a new student at Gekkoukan High, here to scout out the dormitory before possibly moving in," I bow in greeting, "My name is Hakuno Kishinami."

"Rio Iwasaki" she greets back, "pleasure to meet you."

"You too. Are you heading out for training?" I inquire while motioning Rio to walk with me.

"Yes. I was just elected as the captain of the school's Tennis Club and I would do a disservice to my club mates if I started to slack off just because its vacation," Rio explains with a slightly defensive tone as she walks beside me.

"You sound very dedicated," I feel the need to comment.

"I am very dedicated," Rio declares with confidence, "How could I succeed if I wasn't? Tennis is a sport that…" I listen intently as Rio launches on a speech about the merits of tennis. Its endearing really, to see her being so passionate about it. Saber approves too. Eventually Rio runs out of steam, but she then asks me to join the tennis club when the school begins.

"I would love to, but I have a… medical condition that prevents me from activities like that," I sigh and then remember the usual reaction I've had when telling people I have a 'medical condition': "Nothing contagious! Just, prevents me from some activities and needs some more privacy. That's why I'm here, actually. To see how it would work out here."

"Oh, that sounds like a hassle," Rio emphasizes, "and sad. I love sports, especially tennis and the thought that some disease can take it away is just horrible." I'm glad Rio doesn't make a scene about this and we continue chatting until we reach the dorm doors.

"Well, I have to go now, but it was fun talking to you Hakuno," Rio smiles, "I'll see you tomorrow? You're new in town so I could show you around a little."

"That would be great! My room is 307. I'm probably going to be busy in the morning, but I should be free around midday."

"See you then!" Rio waves me goodbye and slink out the door.

She seemed very earnest person, I hope I can make friends with her.

From there, I ended up wandering around the dorm's communal areas for a while, before going outside and sitting down on a bench within eye view of the dorm. After sitting there for a while, my gaze automatically wandered towards the second-floor windows and what I was pretty sure was Yukari's room. Naturally, the next thought in my mind was how to keep Yukari out of the room come Sunday.

 _How to do this…? The best way would probably be a delay of some sort. Could I frame a break-in? The Dark Hour would make it easy to stage one, except that would be way too early. And police investigation would probably focus on people who were at the dorm for the weekend, like me. Unless I focused the attempt on Yukari's room, but that would be almost as bad as breaking in, especially as it would single her out. Multiple rooms then? No, that's worse._

I sigh loudly and lean back on the wooden bench. It is a bit frustrating that all the ideas I seem to get are so extreme. Doable, but I don't want to cross certain lines when it's not life and death situation. _Its just a habit from the war. It'll mellow out with normal life_ , I reassure myself and let my gaze wander, noticing two boys flick their smokes into the bus stop's ashtray before boarding the bus.

 _Oh right. Sometimes simple is best_ , I get up and walk to the bus stop, plucking the recently discarded smoke from the ashtray, _a fire alarm at the right time should clear the building easily, without being anything more serious than a scare and not drawing attention at any specific people._ I slip the smoke into my Gekkoukan uniform pocket and head back to the dorm with lighter steps.

 **Saturday, 21.3.2009  
Naganaki Shrine, Hakuno's POV**

Much to my surprise, Rio Iwasaki had come knocking at my door precisely at 12 o'clock. It had been a pleasant surprise, as the morning had been kind of dull with the few students present for the dorm's breakfast keeping to themselves despite my attempts to break the ice. Afterwards the dorm mother had pulled me over to do some planning for future schedules regarding my stay. I didn't hadn't had the heart to tell her that I wouldn't stay past the weekend.

Anyway, I was all too happy to accept Rio's offer to properly show me around the city as the only places I had so far really explored were the Dorm, Paulownia Mall and Tartarus. Of course, I didn't mention the latter to Rio.

The first stop on the tour was a place called Naganaki Shrine. It was a small shrine located on a small hill in the northern part of the city, not very far from Gekkoukan Dormitories. It seemed to be well cared, though certainly old, but the wear and tear from use seemed to just give it a more dignified atmosphere. The place also had a more modern children's playground taking up roughly a fourth of its courtyard.

"This place is pretty famous among the students, mainly because of the rumour that praying at the shrine gives you better grades. I don't know if its true but has never hurt me to stop by and leaving an offering before exams," Rio explains before pulling me to the side to what seems to be a weathered fortune box, "since we are here, might as well take one?" She then proceeds to pull a fortune from the wooden box, after which she closes her eyes in concentration, probably offering a prayer or something, before looking at what she got. I too take a fortune, though as I'm not sure what it should be about, I decide to just ask for good luck with my endeavours in the future.

The fortune declares that my luck will be fair for the time being and money will be involved. _Money would be very much appreciated_ , I smile at the result before turning to Rio, who seems to have had little less luck, judging by the scowl on her face.

"What's the other reason then?" I ask to distract her from the presumably ill fortune, "you said the shrine is the main reason, but what's the other reason then?"

"Oh," Rio takes a second to focus back to the matter at hand before smiling, "yes, the other reason is that the place is a favoured stop for athletes of all kind during their runs. The playground may be meant for kids, but it's also a good place to do some simple stretches and muscle training before turning around and heading back to the dorm or other training places." She then gives an example by pulling a few chin ups at the jungle gym. Mood restored, we continued the tour by visiting few local parks and their public football fields and basketball courts, not that they were in use this time of the year. Rio's clear preference for physical activities clearly showed.

Our next big stop was the Iwatodai Strip Mall and its next-door neighbour, the Iwatodai Train Station. The shops had seemed to be mainly fast food places or other restaurants, though I had managed to spot a dedicated sweet shop as well as a book store at the front, and Rio had assured me that there were some other real shops on the other side, though nothing as dedicated as what could be found at the Paulownia Mall. Since Rio hadn't been hungry, we had then boarded train to the Port Island.

The Port Island Station was vaguely familiar to me from my previous visits, but Rio expanded my knowledge of the area by warning me off the back alleys and then focusing on the 'Screen Shot' movie theater.

"It's the largest movie theatre in the city and pretty popular because of it. They are also willing to hire students to do part time jobs, like selling tickets and showing customers to their seats so keep that in mind if you need extra cash," Rio explains dutifully while you walk around checking the place, "they also host a sizeable film festival at the end of the summer here. Its really popular, with some people traveling from quite far to take part in so last years it has become a chore to try and procure tickets to the films. As a veteran of the event, I recommend checking the offerings long beforehand and preordering tickets."

From there, we headed over to the Gekkoukan High School and then to the Paulownia Mall though we didn't take time to explore them as the school was closed and I already knew the mall, so Rio instead focused on showing me the shortcuts that made traveling easier, though she made it clear that some places weren't really safe once it got dark. Especially if I had a weak constitution, so I had to promise to her that I wouldn't be running around by myself after it got dark. I also managed to find a 1000-yen bill on the ground, fulfilling the fortune I had gotten back at the shrine.

 **Iwatodai Sports Center, Hakuno's POV**

Rio's tour of Iwatodai came to an end at the Iwatodai Sports center. She apparently still had her evening training regimen to look forward to.

"I really owe you for this tour Rio," I admit as Rio digs her membership card from her wallet.

"Think nothing of it Hakuno," she reassures me, "I had the time and had fun too."

"Me too. Its been a while since I've had the opportunity to spend time with a friend like this," I confess, thinking back to… the final days of the Grail War? It really has been a while. And even then, the mood at the end there wasn't nearly as dree from stress as this. I mean, even when I didn't know that there was an extra Master waiting for us at the core of the Moon Cell, those last days were busy with worrying about fighting Leo and trying to come up with a way to help Rani escape the Moon Cell.

And besides those, just walking around the empty Tsukumihara academy had been depressing, with each empty corner reminding me of dead people.

"Hey, cheer up. We'll have plenty of time to walk around later on during the year. I'll introduce you to a few friends too, not that you'll need help with making those or anything," Rio suddenly says and places her hand on my shoulder. I think I let my bad memories show on my face for a while there.

"I will. Thanks Rio", I tell her back, "you have fun with your training." I wave her goodbye and start walking away, however because I try to keep Rio in my field of view I manage to somehow trip over my lack of feet and fall on the ground with a loud thud, electing a worried cry from Rio.

"I'm all right!" I embarrassedly wave her off as I rise to a crouch on the floor. Hell, consireding what my body is made of I wouldn't be surprised if the floor was damaged more but of course I can't tell that to Rio. She still insists on helping me up and apologises for making me walk so much even though I'm supposedly damaged by illness and everything, managing to make me feel a little bad for lying to her about my condition.

"No its not your fault Rio. I'm all right, I'll take the bus back to the dorm and everything," I reassure her and swipe some imaginary dirt from the fall off my clothes.

"You should also eat something. We have been on the move for several hours now and while I am used to it, you clearly aren't. Buy a sandwich form the cafeteria or something, it'll take the edge off," she starts to fuss, but eventually I manage to get her to stop, though she still escorts me to the cafeteria and only leaves for the locker rooms after I had wasted the money I found earlier on some food and drink.

Still, I couldn't be mad at her for that just as I couldn't help the happy smile I had on my face when I returned to the dorm later.


End file.
